


Mass Effect Shades of Courage

by mmwaveprincess



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe, Family and Adventure, First in the epic trilogy, Gen, Hannah is actually involved in her children's misadventures, Less Serious Female Shepard, Paragon Shepard Only, Prequel leading to and through Mass Effect 1, Serious Male Shepard, Slight Renegade Tendancies, Spacer Twin Shepards
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-10 19:45:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 35,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3301310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmwaveprincess/pseuds/mmwaveprincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follow our Paragon Shepard Twins as they learn about the many shades of courage that hold the galaxy together. Starts as a prequel story until Chapter 8 which begins Mass Effect 1. Cross posted from my account on fanfiction dot net.  This will be the first story in an epic trilogy covering the three Mass Effect Games starring Commander Shepard</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Geneva

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Welcome to my little story-for those of you who also read on fanfiction dot net, this story may look familiar and that's because it is. I originally posted Shades of Courage on that site and since I recently gained an AO3 account, I'm doing cross uploads onto AO3 while going over and editing my previous work. Eventually this version might gain more detailed or explicit versions of scenes but for now it's purely teen-if and when I decide to write to a higher rating I'll adjust the rating on here appropriately ASAP. The version on fanfiction.net will always remain teen so as to appeal to the broadest audience as well as the fact that site has stricter rules regarding ratings and level of detail. 
> 
> I'm a female gamer who adores Mass Effect to no end! I can proudly say I have the complete trilogy on PS3 with all the DLC available to playstation users-meaning the only thing I've missed is Pinnacle Station. I do have the games on my PC but I haven't bought DLC for my PC version so for now, I'm not concerning myself with Pinnacle Station in the story.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect-that honor belongs to EA and Bioware.**

2165 CE onboard the  _SSV Geneva_

It was a landmark day for the SSV Geneva and for mankind. Eight years after the First Contact War, humanity had been granted an embassy on the Citadel and the  _SSV Geneva_  had the honor of transporting the first human ambassador Anita Goyle to the Citadel. While most of the ship celebrated this fact, an attractive athletic woman found herself in an entirely different frame of mind.

Staff Lieutenant Hannah Shepard glared at the empty room with sharp green eyes. She had expected to find her children at their terminals doing their schoolwork for the day. Instead the terminals were dark and her children were nowhere to be found in the family quarters. In hindsight, she should have expected something like this, as this wasn't the first time James and Rebecca had played hooky. It was precisely this reason she couldn't leave her twins on a station like other members of the crew.

Heading out of the quarters, she didn't bother asking the ship VI to track their location. No doubt Rebecca had hacked it to prevent that. Hannah paused to check the lock on the quarters and grimaced. Her prodigal son James had bypassed the door again. How an eleven year old boy managed to bypass a lock of this strength was beyond her. Then again how her daughter could hack into things she shouldn't be able to hack was also disturbing. If this kept up, her head would be fully gray before she hit middle age.

The first thing she needed to check was their favorite places on the ship. They had to be somewhere on this cruiser. She just hoped they didn't turn out somewhere forbidden and get them and her in a lot of trouble. Hannah gave a terse nod as she passed by the other crew members.

"Have the chicks left the nest again Ma'am?" Flight Lieutenant Sean O'Neil asked as he saluted. His black hair was a bit longer than regulation and his blue eyes had their trademark glint. Sean was rarely cross, taking everything life threw at him with good humor and a pint. The only man that had ever drunk him under the table was his best friend Seth, and even then Hannah had had to drag Seth away before he passed out.

Hannah sighed then answered, "Yes Sean. Have you seen them?" Her voice was cool, reflecting little of the southern drawl she'd grown up with and subsequently spent her entire career trying to rid herself of. Due to her iron control and years of practice she could proudly say it only colored her voice when her emotions ran too high for her to curb. It had been something of a nuisance when she first began her service as her thick accent reflected her less than privileged childhood-those with any decently good education in this century learned to drop the regional accents in favor of a standardized way of speaking that was universally understood across a particular language- and therefore marked her as somebody different. She had no issues with being different on the grounds of superior performance and excellent character but Hannah despised being laughed at or sneered at simply because of her roots.

"Last I heard they were heading toward the firing range on the hanger deck. Ma'am" He saluted as he walked off whistling an Irish tune.

She followed his directions to the flight deck where the fighters were being maintained by the maintenance crews. Walking toward the crew chief she addressed him. "Chief Walker have you seen my children? They're playing hooky again."

From his spot under the trident fighter he was working on, Fred Walker answered, "You might try the firing range with Chief Schulyer. They're usually over there when they're here. Would you mind passing that Eezo wrench? This drive core has been on the fritz lately and my omni tool just isn't up to it. This fighter needs a complete overhaul." The only thing visible of his body was grimy boots desperately in need of polish. If he wasn't so good at his job, she'd put him on report for being out of uniform.

Hannah passed the correct wrench into his greasy hand and then walked off. She approached the firing range at a brisk pace, her unpainted mouth set in a stern line.

Gunnery chief John Schulyer stood, arms crossed as he observed the twins firing M3 Predators. The grizzled black man was a veteran of the First Contact War and remembered vividly the attack on Shanxi. As such, he was more than happy to instruct the Shepard twins on the proper way to handle firearms. "James don't grip the pistol so hard. It's a gun not your-"

A delicate cough interrupted him in mid-sentence.

The twins froze and turned around. The doomed look on their faces told the chief who was there.

"Your mother's there isn't she?" He asked them.

They nodded mutely, red heads bobbing in agreement.

Putting on a smile he turned around and offered a salute to the blond woman. "Lieutenant Shepard."

"Gunnery Chief Schulyer," She gave him a look that spoke of demotions to the rank of Private. He had known Hannah Shepard since the early days in the First Contact War but never in eight years had he seen the woman be anything but coldly efficient on duty. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn the woman was made of ice.

Rebecca grinned brightly, her green eyes batting as she spoke. "Mom, James and I were just-"

"Thinking of ways to finish our homework," James interrupted with his green eyes gleaming with sincerity. Unlike his sister Rebecca whose red hair leaned toward reddish-gold, his hair was a dark red that would no doubt match the auburn shade of his father's hair someday.

Hannah raised an elegant eyebrow. "Oh really? Shooting guns helps you finish how…?" She folded her arms.

Rebecca opened and closed her mouth soundlessly. Her mother always saw through the smokescreen, and zeroed in on the truth.

Next to her, James summoned up all the charisma he had. "Well Becca and I disagreed on how to solve a math problem. I thought if you take into account the distance between this point and the target with the speed of a round fired by a M3 Predator you can determine how quickly the round will get to the target every time."

Rebecca seamlessly took over. "I disagreed in that the speed of a round fired from the M3 is not always constant. Case in point armor piercing ammo always travels faster than normal ammo."

"That's an interesting argument but that doesn't explain why you're here and not doing your schoolwork." Hannah countered.

James shrugged cheerfully. "Oh we already finished."

"Yeah, we've been debating tomorrow's homework." Rebecca grinned.

Hannah used her omni tool to access a nearby terminal to confirm their story. She sighed in defeat. "Schulyer you're off the hook. But from now on, the twins are not allowed into the armory or the range without me or their father present."

"Yes ma'am," Schulyer saluted smartly.

Hannah relaxed into a pose with her hands clasped behind her back. "How did they do on the range?"

Schulyer smiled proudly, and stood tall. "James was five points away from the ship record at forty meters. If he didn't grip so hard he would've gotten it. Rebecca held it correctly but she needs work on her sighting. Her score places her at proficient."

Rebecca frowned as a thought occurred to her while the adults were talking. "James let me see your gun."

James shrugged and handed over the pistol. "Sure. Maybe you can figure it out. It didn't feel right when I was shooting it."

Rebecca examined the gun closely. "Something's off with the barrel. Hey Chief, can you take a look at James's gun?" She interrupted and handed it to Schulyer.

Using his omni tool Schulyer ran a quick diagnostic. "No wonder he was gripping so hard. The barrel's off by four millimeters screwing up the recoil. Let me fix this real quick." With his experienced hands the repair took no more than five minutes and then handed it back to James.

James turned around, sighted and fired. The round was dead center every time.

Not to be outdone, Rebecca fired a few rounds herself. While she was in the center, she didn't always hit the bulls eye.

James nudged her. "Becca try adjusting your point of aim three centimeters to the left."

Rebecca frowned and adjusted accordingly. Narrowing her eyes she fired several rounds and was pleased to see them hit dead center.

Hannah blinked in surprise. "James I didn't know you could shoot so well. Just how much time do you spend down here anyway?"

Schulyer cleared his throat. "Most days and every time Seth comes to practice. They've also been taking pointers from the Marines."

"I see," Hannah's tone was surprised. Her children were pestering the Marines? Didn't they usually hate children? "Have they been a bother?"

Schulyer denied it vehemently. "No ma'am. The Marines are delighted to…that is none of them mind the children. They're very mature for their age and are never a bother."

Hannah absorbed this for a moment before turning to her children. "James, Rebecca we need to go and collect your father from Engineering. He should be getting off duty about now. Chief Schulyer." She nodded to the Chief and gently steered her children away from the range after they returned the guns.

As the family waited in the elevator for it to reach the Engineering Deck, Hannah cleared her throat. "Is there any reason the two of you like to go traipsing all over the ship without permission? "

Rebecca scuffed her shoes against the floor. "It's boring being locked up in a little room all day. We only leave when we go see Daddy or to the Mess Hall."

Hannah's face softened a little but her voice remained stern. "I understand that but if we are in a combat situation we can't have you wandering around the ship. You could get seriously hurt or be in the way of the crew. Could you at least call me and tell me where're you're headed?"

"Yes Mom and we'll call the Section Head too to ask permission before we go." James added.

The elevator doors opened and they stepped off onto the engineering deck. Walking at a brisk pace they soon reached the Core Room where the drive core gave a soft hum behind the mass effect shield. Standing at a console monitoring the core was a tall wirey auburn haired man.

"DADDY!" Rebecca shrieked and flew at her father.

Chief Engineer Seth Shepard picked up his daughter and hugged her. "How's my little rose doing? Causing any more trouble today?"

Rebecca giggled. "I can finally hit the bullseye of the target thanks to James helping me. But Mom told Chief Schulyer we're not allowed to be at the range any more without you or her there." She pouted a bit.

"I take it you and Mr. Bond sneaked out again then." Seth ruffled his son's hair benignly. "What are we going to do with you two?"

"How about restraints?" Hannah suggested dryly.

"How about a nanny? Maybe we can bribe one of the PFCs to watch them. Put those Marines to use for something other than grunting." Seth joked, his blue eyes twinkling.

James frowned at his father. "Dad, Marines don't grunt. They fight."

Rebecca frowned at her father also as she shifted in his arms. "Yeah Daddy they're not that bad. Marines keep us all safe."

Seth looked in surprise at his children. "That's it, no more Marines for you. Keep this talk up and you'll end up enlisting as one."

"What's wrong with that?" Rebecca blinked surprised.

Seth just sighed and put her down. "Alright give me a minute and we can get going." He consulted briefly with his small dark haired assistant.

"Don't worry Chief, I have everything handled." Tolavi saluted before taking over.

When the family was in the elevator again, heading up to the main crew deck, Seth glanced mischievously at his beautiful wife. Quickly reaching behind her, he pinched her ass and grinned at the resulting shriek.

"SETH!" Hannah glared at her husband. "NOT HERE!"

"What? I can't express my love and admiration for my lovely wife? Next you'll tell me I can't hug our children." Seth said with a hurt look. He loved it when she blushed.

"Keep that up and you'll be sleeping on the couch mister." Hannah growled trying to contain her laughter. Only Seth could loosen her up like this.

James stage whispered, "I'd do what she says."

Rebecca nodded sagely. "Yup, otherwise you'll never get any."

Both parents stared in shock at their children. Finally Hannah cleared her throat and with a meaningful look at Seth, "Definitely too much time with the Marines."

Later in the family quarters after the living area had been cleaned up from the weekly Skyllian 5 Poker game and the twins sent off to bed in the small second bedroom, Hannah and Seth moved into their bedroom to talk.

"I can't believe James won again. If it isn't him its Rebecca winning. I think he's cheating. How else do you explain two grown adults getting fleeced by an eleven year old?" Seth complained good naturedly.

"Oh please, everyone knows you have a horrible poker face. Besides James takes after my father, you never can tell when he's bluffing. He was Special Forces," Hannah said with pride. Her family could trace their military lineage all the way back to Earth's Second World War. Since that war, her family had fought in every war North America had participated in all the way to the founding of the Alliance. Since the beginning all had served with honor.

"In all seriousness with them constantly being AWOL from our quarters they can't stay on this ship much longer. They don't have anybody their own age to play with or room to play, so they're just getting into trouble." Seth said for an opening statement, folding his arms.

"Just how much trouble do you think they'd get into out of our sight on some station? I'm not letting them out of my sight." Hannah set her jaw in a stubborn manner.

"You can't watch them forever. Someday they have to grow up and get some independence. They can't get that on a ship where their every move is monitored and controlled," Seth argued.

"They're only eleven, are they really old enough to go on a station by themselves?" Hannah suddenly smirked. "Besides I'm the ranking officer here, what I say goes."

Seth rolled his eyes. "Aye, aye Lieutenant. Permission to love my wife?"

"Granted." Hannah smiled as the lights dimmed.

* * *

 

The next day began as a peaceful, uneventful day aboard the Geneva but by the end of the day it would become hell itself. Sequestered in one of the rooms set aside for the press who were aboard to document the first human ambassador traveling to the Citadel, four reporters systematically disabled the security in the room, cutting off video and sound of the room and locking the door against intrusion.

Once the room had been sealed against outsiders, the stocky senior reporter Angus Ross pressed a button and displayed a holographic map of the SSV Geneva. "You understand the importance of this mission to Cerberus correct? We must not let that 'ambassador' reach the Citadel or humanity will soon be crushed under those oppressive alien scum. Plan A is to locate the ambassador and kill her. We need to get in and out of the officer's crew deck before anybody realizes what's happened. Should this somehow fail we have an alternate plan. In plan B, we attack the ship at her weakest point-the Mass Effect Core. Ricardo," Angus turned to the short Hispanic man next to him, "We'll need your expert hacking to get down to the Engineering deck and into the Core room. Gabriel," Here he faced a tall angelic faced blond man in his early twenties, "Be prepared to kill any of those Marines that get in our way. You better not let Ricardo die or we're screwed," Then Angus's dark eyes flashed over to a beautiful brunette, "Miranda…back up Gabriel and just stay out of trouble. You survive and you might get a gold star. Any questions?"

The fifteen year old girl folded her arms. "You know I could easily hack better than Ricardo."

Angus glared at the girl. "Shut up, Lawson."

Gabriel cracked his knuckles as he spoke. "Are we going to start this soon? I'd like to shoot some Marines before this day is out."

Angus nodded. "The mission will begin now."

Ricardo moved to the terminal inside the room and began hacking furiously. A few minutes later he spoke. "Ship wide monitors disabled. Alarm turned off. We have ten minutes."

"Let's get cracking." Angus commanded as they left the room.

In the CIC Specialist Abigail Brewer a plain older woman with graying brown hair and sharp eyes stiffened as she read the latest data packet on the ship wide monitors. "Damn kids," She muttered.

Hannah glanced up from her own terminal. "What's wrong Brewer?"

"Those children of yours did it again Ma'am. They turned off all the monitors in the entire ship and disabled the alarm. I don't know what they're up to but they better stop fooling around." Brewer spat out. She had never liked children but after seeing the Shepard twins in action, she swore off children forever. If she had her way, spacers would not be allowed to have children unless on stations.

Hannah frowned. "They can't be doing that. They just promised yesterday they'd stop."

Brewer snorted. "Obviously they lied."

Crewman Lisa Allen chimed in, "Don't worry, I'll fix it!" She announced in her perky voice. She was a petite young woman from a colony on her first fleet assignment. Her big brown eyes and golden curls added to the impression of a hyperactive family dog.

Crewman Martha Crawford suggested in a soft voice, "Maybe it's a system malfunction. Besides the children haven't blacked out the system before, so why would they start now?" Her raven hair was cut short and her hazel eyes were always thoughtful. She had a motherly air about her despite her young age and her voice was rarely raised above a conversational tone.

"I'll check on them and if it's not them you owe me a big apology, Brewer." Hannah shot back as she opened up a communications line.

On the first hail a high pitched childish voice answered. "Hello?"

"James? It's Mom. What are you and Rebecca up to now?" Hannah questioned.

"We're doing homework. Why?" James asked innocently.

"Are you sure you're not up to anything naughty again? Snuck out of the quarters?" Hannah queried.

"No, we've been in here since breakfast. We haven't even stopped for lunch yet. Besides we promised we'd stop fooling around and we have." James sounded puzzled now.

Hannah glanced at the source of the line. She had deliberately opened up a line to the family quarters to test if they really were in there. Since James had answered promptly and didn't sound out of breath, they were in there. Which meant her children weren't behind the hack. "Never mind. You and your sister get back to work and stay inside." She closed the line just as Lisa exclaimed in a distressed tone.

"The hack originated from one of the press rooms. You have any idea what your kids are doing there?" Lisa inquired.

"They're not anywhere near the press rooms. They're still in my quarters." Hannah answered.

"Damn. There isn't any reason for anybody, much less one of those reporters to be fooling around with the ship monitoring system. Which means…" Brewer trailed off, fearful of saying it.

Hannah's face hardened. "Somebody's up to something we're not supposed to know about." She raised her voice. "Rouse the Captain and tell him we have an unauthorized network intrusion and that it isn't my children. In the meantime I want the ship on lockdown and the intruders to be tracked."

A chorus of Aye Ma'am was heard from the crewman as they carried out her orders.

In the Shepard family quarters James paused in the midst of his mathematics equation. "I wonder why Mom called us like that."

Rebecca didn't glance up from her terminal. "She probably just wanted to make sure we weren't breaking our promise."

James wasn't convinced. Narrowing his eyes in thought he spoke slowly. "But why call in the middle of her watch like that? She's not supposed to be off for a few hours and normally she'd be too busy to check up on us. Besides, she sounded strange. Like something was wrong."

Rebecca shrugged. "Maybe you're just imagining things. C'mon James hurry up and finish. I want to show you this new vid I downloaded off the Extranet."

James glanced derisively at his sister. "Not another old Earth television show. When are you going to stop watching those things?"

Rebecca made a face at him. "They're really cool and you know it. Besides I think they're a fascinating look at 20th century thinking and culture."

"Where you do even find those things anyway?" James rolled his eyes. His sister could find the strangest, most obscure things on the Extranet where most people failed.

"Let's just say I have contacts in many places. Including certain archives back on Earth," Rebecca smirked.

Before James could reply, a high pitched shriek sounded and a red light started flashing. "What was that?"

"Do I look like a VI to you?" snapped Rebecca. Quickly her fingers danced over her terminal. "Let me see what I can find out."

James jumped up and went over to the locked door. He wasn't just going to sit inside and not know what was going on.

"Oh shit," Rebecca swore.

"What is it?" James asked as he began the process of bypassing the door.

"I can't get inside. The system is completely locked down and the VI won't tell me anything. There's definitely something wrong for there to be this many security measures up," Rebecca ran a hand through her red hair. She closed down her terminal and walked over to James. "What are you doing?"

"Bypassing," James muttered as he continued. Finally the lock was undone and he finished.

Rebecca's eyes flew wide open. "But Mom told us to stay inside. And judging by the computer system, there's something really wrong. We could get hurt if we go out."

James glared at her. "I'm not going to sit around without any information and be a scared little boy. Since hacking the system didn't work, we need to do some reconnaissance."

She glared back. "I don't care how good you are at bypassing and shooting James, you're not a Marine. And right now, what you're proposing is the Marines job. We're only going to get in their way. Besides Mom would kill us if we disobeyed her and went out in a time like this."

He set his jaw stubbornly. "Be that as it may, I'm not going to sit and wait for trouble to find us. Especially when this ship and crew needs our help. Now are you coming or not?"

She sighed. "Fine but when Mom kills you, I get your stuff."

* * *

 

As the ship wide alert went off, the four Cerberus operatives came to a sudden halt by an elevator.

"Crap how were we discovered so quickly?" Ricardo swore.

"Obviously you didn't cover your tracks properly." Miranda sneered.

"Shut up rookie. You couldn't have done any better," Ricardo snapped.

"Shut up both of you and do your jobs. We're already behind five minutes," Angus ordered.

"Shit. Who is blocking my signal? I thought Alliance security was a joke," Ricardo gritted his teeth.

"Give me thirty seconds," Miranda elbowed Ricardo away from the door and began working. "Make yourself useful and hack into the ship comms and learn their movements."

True to her word the door swooshed open. Just as that happened, Ricardo successfully tapped the comm system.

" _Chief Schulyer, take your men and sweep this ship. We have intruders. Try to take them alive."_

" _Yes ma'am. They won't know what hit 'em."_

" _And Schulyer? Keep an eye out for my children. Knowing them, they may get involved in your mission."_

" _Don't worry ma'am, they have more sense than that."_

Angus snorted. "Nothing useful there."

Miranda offered, "Maybe they're trying to confuse us by speaking in code."

"Code? How smart do you think the Alliance is?" Gabriel spoke derisively.

"We're in, let's go." Angus ordered them inside the elevator.

As the elevator climbed to the crew decks, Angus divided his team.

"Lawson you and Gabriel will take out the objective. Ricardo and I will secure our escape. Remember we're behind. Get in and get out quick, I will not wait for stragglers."

A chorus of ayes was heard as the doors opened to the lowest crew deck.

"Why're we stopping here?" Miranda queried.

Ricardo swore and reported, "Somebody accessed the elevator controls and stopped us prematurely. I don't know what bastard is screwing with me but I owe him a bullet in the head."

While Ricardo was griping, Miranda was correcting the situation. Soon they were on their way again.

Meanwhile in the CIC…

Brewer frowned as she read the latest data. "I'm detecting another presence in the system. It's not Alliance or the intruders. But what's odd is this third party is erecting firewalls behind us, and defending the system against the intruders where we fail."

Lisa's eyes widened. "I wonder who it could be! Do you think they're harmful?" This space assignment got more interesting every day.

Hannah ordered without glancing up. "Lock them out. We don't know what the third party's doing behind the firewalls."

"Belay that," Captain Daniel Everett ordered as he sat down in his chair. "It's probably your daughter. And for once, I'm glad she's disobeying orders." He added to Hannah. "Do we have a location on the intruders?"

Martha's fingers danced over the console. "Somewhere in the elevator but I have no sensors. They've locked me out."

"What about Rebecca?" The Captain asked.

"Negative. She's just been locked out. The intruders are skilled." Lisa answered, settling down to work.

"Crap!" A curse was heard from Brewer. "I've just lost control of the elevators. They've all been shut down."

"Do we still have control of the airlocks?" Captain Everett queried.

"We do sir…but I don't know for how long." Brewer answered honestly.

"Tell Chief Schulyer to gear up. He's taking a walk." The Captain ordered.

* * *

 

"James they kicked me out again! What now?" Rebecca glanced up from a terminal in the lounge of their deck.

"Any chance you can get back in?" James asked as he paced.

"I'll try," Rebecca answered as she began to furiously hack.

"Try to locate the weapons locker on this deck. We may need some." James ordered his sister.

"Got it. A location that is," Rebecca finished typing up commands and then a section of the wall nearest James slid open to reveal a small locker.

James activated his omni tool and got to work bypassing the lock. After three loud beeps, he pulled two pistols from the locker. He quickly checked the pistols making sure they had their ammo block before throwing Rebecca one.

Without even glancing up Rebecca reached up with one hand and snatched the pistol out of the air. "Thanks. Let's hope we don't need them."

"Any luck getting back in?" James walked over.

"No. Whoever did this isolated this entire deck. Nobody has access beyond local control, and even then that's temporary. Maybe if you bypass the command circuits in Sections 5 and 3 we can gain control of the elevators." Rebecca stated.

James nodded. "Alright. Put the nav points on my omni tool."

"Done. Get out of here," Rebecca glanced up and met her brother's eye. "Don't do anything stupid okay?"

"Come on, it's me. Would I do anything that dumb?" James quipped.

Rebecca rolled her eyes as she worked on her console.

James ran to Section 3 first and located the correct panel. He waved his omni tool in front of the panel and it sparked as the panel opened up. Then he proceeded to reroute all the command circuitry into a new configuration. "I got it. Your turn," He talked into his omni tool.

Rebecca quickly encrypted the rerouted pathways and erected firewalls for good measures. "We're good. Next panel."

James was already removing the next panel and began work on the circuits. After a lot of sparks, he finished his bypass. "You're up."

Rebecca worked on her end, effectively locking the intruders out. With this section good to go, she snatched control of the elevators back from the intruders. After she did this, she opened an encrypted line to the bridge. "Lt. can you hear me?"

" _What's your status crewman?"_  Hannah's voice sounded from the console.

James cut in. "Ma'am we have regained control of the elevators and are requesting further orders." He entered the lounge as he spoke into his omni tool.

" _Roger that. Send the elevators to the hangar deck. Can you tell us anything else about your status?"_ Hannah responded.

"Alive and well. We are at *static*."

In the CIC, Hannah glanced over at communications "Give me a status report," She ordered, even as fear leapt into her throat for her children.

"We lost the signal ma'am." Martha answered grimly.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Miranda and Gabriel were running down the main corridor of the officer's crew deck.

Out of the corner of his eye Gabriel saw a flash of movement. Almost instinctively he fired his Carnifex hand cannon at the disturbance.

"What are you doing you idiot? If there are any Marines on this deck, they now know our position!" Miranda hissed furiously.

"Relax toots, I just took someone out. Now are we going to find the objective or would you prefer to find a private room?" Gabriel drawled, scanning the area as he spoke.

"Keep your mind on the mission." Miranda snapped as she moved forward.

Gabriel smirked as he followed the well endowed brunette. Too bad such a great body was wasted on an ice queen like Lawson.

Rebecca gasped in surprise when James's fist slammed on the terminal, severing the comm line but before she could react further, he grabbed her arm and began running with her out of the lounge. They were dashing down a side corridor when a loud boom sounded and they narrowly avoided being shot. Biting back a scream of fright-she had never been shot at before- she jerked her arm out of her brother's tight grasp and dove inside a doorway that appeared. Seconds after she did this, her brother tumbled in.

Only as she looked up did she realize this wasn't an empty room or storage closet like she assumed. Judging by the furnishings it belonged to somebody very high ranking. Her green eyes landed on two massive men holding guns on them and behind the men was a delicate looking woman who raised her eyebrows.  _Oh shit._

"I do hope this isn't a game of hide n' go seek," Was the woman's wry statement. Her voice was cultured and smooth like a politician, totally unlike the rough voices of the Marines onboard. Her clothing was sophisticated and looked as though they had been made just for her. All in all, she did not present the picture of an Alliance soldier in any way.

Rebecca blinked owlishly as the connection hit home. No wonder-this must be the human Ambassador to the Citadel! Struggling to recall the manners her mother had drilled into her, she scrambled up from the floor and saluted. "I'm so sorry Ma'am. My brother and I were just…we were running…that is somebody tried to kill us!"

James coughed and amended his sister's statement. "That is, the intruders have reached this floor and took a shot at us. We sought the nearest shelter and this happened to be the room."

Ambassador Goyle nodded. "Understandable. But why precisely, are you armed?"

James stood at attention, "It's SOP ma'am. When military vessels are boarded by hostile forces, all personnel must arm themselves and prepare to repel. Ma'am."

Goyle's eyebrows flew up at such a serious statement from a child. "But why would children have access to weapons? That seems a trifle-"

The Ambassador was interrupted by Rebecca's terse announcement. "Intruders at the door," She spoke as she heard the faint sounds of somebody bypassing.

Immediately James and the two body guards went to cover positions, ready to open fire when the door opened.

"Excuse me Ambassador but we should get out of the way," Rebecca saluted again before grabbing the startled woman's arm and dragging her out of the room. She thanked any higher powers for Goyle having a suite as she entered the back bedroom. After making sure the Ambassador was in a corner behind the bed she readied her pistol in case the intruders made it past the outer room.

In the outer room James tensed as the intruders finished bypassing. He ignored the sudden burst of panic in his stomach at the thought of a firefight and took deep breaths. He couldn't afford to panic now. The Ambassador and his sister had to be protected, no matter what the cost.

Then the door swooshed open and all hell broke loose. Bullets flew, propelled by the Mass Accelerators in the guns but neither side hit, only tearing up the room and corridor beyond. Suddenly one of the body guards cried out as he rose from cover to fire only to be hit by a powerful burst of gunfire that left him dead on the floor.

James didn't glance at the dead body, didn't let the cold fear of him lying dead on the floor grab him as he took aim and fired. His hands remained steady, his eyes cold and his mouth set in a determined manner even as inside he furiously thought about a way out. Somehow they had to push back the intruders in order for the Ambassador to escape. Then a thought occurred to him. "Do you have a grenade?" He yelled to the remaining bodyguard hoping he'd understand.

The man glanced at the boy in surprise; he hadn't thought about that until now. Quickly he reached for a grenade from his belt, pushed a button and tossed it just outside the door where the enemy was taking cover. Promptly it went off with a loud explosion of flames and shrapnel.

At the sight of the disc both operatives split up and ran from the door. Miranda quickly put up a barrier to reinforce her shields but she was still close enough that the explosion took out both of her defenses and knocked her off her feet.

Gabriel who had only his shields and no biotic powers to reinforce them wasn't as lucky. He cried out as hot pieces of metal and plastic embedded themselves in his back, and he fell to the floor, bleeding.

James and the body guard leaped over their cover and dashed from the room, guns up and ready to fire.

_Where the hell did this kid learn how to fight like a Marine?_ The bodyguard wondered just as Miranda killed him with a well aimed head shot from her Carnifex hand cannon.

James in the meantime shot the other operative in the back of the head as he attempted to rise. Before he could process the fact he had just killed someone for the first time, he heard the boom of a Carnifex and the thud of a body falling to the floor behind him. Immediately he spun around and found himself staring at a beautiful girl with dark hair and the face of an angel. She was older, in her mid teens, he guessed but she pointed a gun at him with a steady hand.  _So this is the enemy_  he thought.

Miranda remembered seeing the boy kill Gabriel seconds before she killed the second bodyguard but it wasn't until now she realized how young he was. He couldn't have been more than eleven, with dark red hair and bright green eyes but his mouth was set in a grim line and he didn't seem scared at all.  _I hadn't factored in children protecting the Ambassador_  she thought. Still no matter how good a shot the boy was, he obviously had no shields or armor. It would be pathetically easy to kill him.

Before the girl could fire, James aimed at her hand and fired quickly. He couldn't help the smug grin as her hand bled and she dropped the gun involuntarily. This smugness didn't last long as suddenly her entire body glowed and with a furious expression she threw something at him. Later he would realize she was a biotic but for the moment he was in shock as she lifted him off his feet and he hung in mid air helplessly.

Miranda ignored the pain of her shot hand as she summoned her biotics and lifted the boy off his feet. It was her turn to feel smug as she saw the flash of real fear in his green eyes. Before she could slam him into the floor to finish him off she was interrupted by a hail of gunfire from an Avenger rifle forcing her to end her lift and form a barrier.

"She's a biotic! Watch it Marines!" Schulyer shouted as he took aim for another burst from the airlock. Good thing the Captain had ordered an EVA. "She can't hold that barrier forever, keep shooting!"

At first Miranda was merely annoyed from the technical difficulties in getting this far, then the grenade and the brat pissed her off, but a whole team of Marines pumping lead into her barrier at full automatic was the last straw. It was fair to say, Miranda was very put out. "Time to finish you off!" She yelled as she turned her barrier into a shockwave, bowling the Marines over with nine hundred Newtons of force. Then she made her escape, grabbing her gun on the way.

As the Marines got up from the floor they saw that the enemy was gone, leaving a bullet filled corridor, two dead bodies, and James lying limply on the floor.

Schulyer went over to James and checked his vitals. "Medic!" He yelled to his team. "Get him down to med-bay ASAP."

He then opened a comm line to the bridge. "Captain this is Schulyer. Made contact with the enemy on the officer's crew deck. It looks like they were after the Ambassador. I'm checking on her status now. Over and out." He strode into the suite and noted a firefight had gone on inside the front room, and the body of the other bodyguard was on the floor. Turning he ordered his men, "I want two on this door and two at the elevator in case they come back." He went into the rear room and was greeted by a shot from a Predator. Looking he saw Rebecca holding the gun while using the bed for cover.

Rebecca's eyes widened as she realized who she had fired at. "Oh crap, I'm so sorry Chief! I thought you were the enemy!"

"Where's the Ambassador?" Schulyer asked. At least she was okay.

"Right here, where my little protector shoved me," A cultured voice came as the Ambassador stood up from behind the bed. "I wasn't aware the Alliance had a new child soldier program,"

Schulyer coughed. "No ma'am, their mother will be killing them later. They live on this ship, and are military born and bred."

"I see. Have the intruders gone then?" She asked.

"Yes Ma'am…for now. I'm posting guards outside your quarters until further notice." He responded.

"What happened to my body guards?" The Ambassador queried.

"They're both dead Ma'am," Schulyer said apologetically before speaking to Rebecca, "Rebecca put down your gun and come with me. We have professionals now protecting the Ambassador." Schulyer ordered the girl.

Rebecca nodded and followed the Chief out, handing him her gun as she did so. She gasped at the sight of the outer room and the dead man. Outside the Ambassador's quarters were worse and the formerly pristine corridor was ripped with bullets, scorch marks, and blood. Then her eyes landed on the limp form of her twin. "James!" She yelled and tried to run to him only to be held back by Schulyer. "Is he dead?" She asked the medic anxiously, close to tears.

"He's probably cracked or broken some ribs from the fall. He may be further injured but we won't know until we get him down to med bay," The medic answered as he worked to stabilize James enough to move him. He was applying medi gel as he spoke, hoping to repair some of the damage.

Schulyer was deeply affected by James's injuries. A Marine getting hurt in the line of duty was normal, almost expected. A kid like James though wasn't and he kept recalling the moment when they came around the corner and saw him hanging in the air because of the biotic. He could say he wasn't the only Marine who sprayed the corridor with a touch more fire than necessary. Away from home for so long, with many not seeing their families for months at a time if they even had them, they had all adopted the younger Shepards in a way, and often stopped to help them when they asked for help. It helped ease the pain of separation and reminded the Marines of just why they had joined the Alliance so many years ago.

Rebecca's eyes widened even further. "How did he get hurt? What do you mean a fall?"

"He was helping to fight off the enemy but he capped one and the other was a biotic. She lifted him off his feet to kill him before we interrupted her. Then he fell," Schulyer answered her question honestly.

Rebecca's eyes darkened with anger. "A girl was trying to kill my brother with biotics? That…" Abruptly she snapped her mouth shut before any more anger could spill out in a furious flood. She should have been the one helping her brother, but instead she was protecting the Ambassador. And from the looks of things, those body guards had been no help at all.

Schulyer walked away from Rebecca and opened up another comm. line to the bridge. "Captain, this is Schulyer. The Ambassador is safe. Looks like those crewmen from before came to her defense. I have secured the deck and am awaiting further orders."

Rebecca in the meanwhile had the nagging feeling the situation wasn't resolved. Sure the attempt on the Ambassador's life had failed, but if that was all, why would the alarm still be going off and the Marines still look worried? Could it be there were more intruders somewhere? But what else could they be after? Absently she gnawed on a fingernail as she thought.  _Maybe I could get to a terminal or console and hack into the ship's systems again. No, the security will be even tighter now, especially if we're still on red alert. Besides the Marines know where I am now, and they'd notice my absence as soon as I'm gone. Plus James is really hurt. I can't leave him. Could I?_

Suddenly the voice of the ship's VI sounded as it broadcasted to the entire ship, "WARNING! FUSION LEAK DETECTED! ALL CREW EVACUATE ENGINEERING IMEDIATELY! ALL PERSONNEL PREPARE TO ABANDON SHIP!"

_DADDY NO!_ Rebecca screamed mentally.

From Schulyer's open comm. line Hannah barked.  _"They did what and helped who? Wait belay that. Send some Marines to Engineering immediately."_

" _Belay that Staff Lieutenant. Chief Schulyer, hold position and prepare to evacuate the Ambassador."_  Captain Everett ordered.

* * *

 

In the elevator Miranda applied medi gel to her hand even as she opened a secure line to her team mates. She knew it was risky opening a line like this, but she didn't have a choice. "We need to initiate Plan B. Plan A has failed."

To his credit, Angus didn't give away surprise or anger over the line.  _"Roger that. Will commence with Plan B,"_

Miranda waited somewhat impatiently for the elevator to reach the engineering deck. Failure was not an option, especially after she had bungled Plan A. It was humiliating that Angus's carefully laid plans had been shredded to bits by a child who had no business being in a firefight. Deep down though, she had to admit the kid had courage. It wasn't so long ago she herself had been in a firefight, though hers with her father. Her thoughts were interrupted by the elevator doors opening.

Angus and Ricardo were waiting for her. "So Miss Perfect actually failed?" Ricardo sneered.

"Gabriel dead?" Angus asked, noting the absence of the other operative.

Miranda's mouth twitched. "One of the body guards got cute and chucked a grenade. Gabriel was too slow. I had to cut my losses when the Marines came in."

Angus gave a look to Ricardo before he could make another comment and ordered to both of them, "Let's begin then. You know what's at stake."

Before the Cerberus operatives entered the main control room in the engineering section, they fitted their breath masks on themselves in preparation for their next move.

Angus reached for a gas grenade, pushed a button and as soon as the doors to the room opened he tossed it in the middle. The effect was instantaneous as the three engineers working inside fell to the ground. He and his team moved quickly inside and without delay shot the unconscious engineers in the head.

Miranda bent over the bodies checking the jumpsuits and tags of the engineers before straightening up. "The chief engineer isn't here. He's most likely in the Core Room."

Angus nodded. "Proceed to the Core Room then."

Seth was monitoring the drive core when he heard gunshots echoing down the corridor. Quickly activating his omni tool he opened a direct line to Hannah.

"Honey I need some Marines in Engineering now. There are hostiles headed my way. I love you…"

"Aww how sweet. Step away from that console, Chief Engineer Shepard." A female voice from behind him ordered.

Spinning around, Seth fired an EMP burst from his omni tool into the hostiles and then charged in. Before he could grab a gun from the hostiles he found himself paralyzed in a stasis field.

"I should kill you for that but we need a hostage and you're it. Ricardo, get to work." Angus ordered. His body was still numb from the high voltage pulse and his shields were only now starting to recover. "Good work Miranda," He added to the girl who had erected the stasis field. She was starting to earn her pay.

As Miranda looked at the engineer she noticed a resemblance between him and the boy she fought outside the Ambassador's quarters.  _I wonder if they're related. Too bad his son's dead._

Ricardo went to work on the consoles, shutting down the cooling systems on the drive core causing it to overheat. "In about thirty minutes the whole ship will blow," He announced.

"Move out. Shepard, you're coming with us. Put your hands on your head. Try anything funny and you're dead." Angus jabbed the engineer in the back with his gun putting him out in front of them.

"Wait," Miranda ordered and began sabotaging the fusion core.

"What's that for?" Ricardo asked puzzled.

Before Seth could think of a way to escape, Miranda answered Ricardo, "Insurance in case you bungle this too."

Seth glared at the girl. "Are you crazy or just psychotic? You're going to kill us all."

"Don't you get it yet? We don't care. We'll be long gone. If a few Alliance dogs have die for the cause, so be it." Angus shoved Seth forward.

Just as the group left the control room, a group of Marines accosted them.

"Drop your weapons and surrender." The squad leader shouted.

"Not going to happen. How about your drop your weapons or your chief engineer gets it?" Angus responded as he, Ricardo and Miranda all had a gun on the engineer.

Without taking his eyes off the assassins the squad leader opened a direct line to the bridge. "Captain the hostiles have taken Engineer Shepard hostage. Your orders?"

Before the Captain could respond the ship VI shrieked, "WARNING! FUSION LEAK DETECTED! ALL CREW EVACUATE ENGINEERING IMEDIATELY! ALL PERSONNEL PREPARE TO ABANDON SHIP!"

Angus smirked and spoke loud enough to be heard over the line. "Looks like you're over a barrel. You need our boy here," He jabbed Seth painfully in the back before continuing with his demands. "To stop the leak since your other engineers are dead. We need to get to the flight deck. Your move Alliance dog."

" _Cooperate for now. We'll have an ambush waiting in the hanger."_  The Captain ordered.

"Aye skipper." The squad leader closed the line and then ordered his squad, "Lower your weapons and stand down."

* * *

 

As soon as the VI finished its announcement Rebecca ran. She ignored the protesting shouts of the Marines and found the emergency maintenance ladder in the adjourning corridor. She scrambled down it, and found the next ladder quickly. Luckily she and James used to play in this maze of ladders and tunnels before their dad caught them one day. He had a death glare that would send most Marines to a violent and painful death. After that day, the twins had quit but her experience served her well now even if the tunnels were tighter than she remembered.

She quickly reached the engineering deck and stepped out into the corridor. She began searching for a hazmat suit, knowing without one she couldn't get through the radiation. Thankfully she found one close to her size. Good thing Engineer Tolavi wasn't much bigger than her.

After suiting up she headed into the control room but was greeted by the bodies of her friends. She had a sudden flashback of each of them explaining their jobs on the ship. She gasped in horror but controlled herself as she remembered what was at stake. She immediately began to figure out the problem. The intruders had shut off the automatic safety systems and blew out the main seal. As she was working she realized just how serious the problem was. The hum of the engines had stopped, the lights were dimmer and according to her Geiger counter on her suit, the radiation level was climbing. Soon the whole ship would be affected. She had to seal the leak or else they were all dead.

Using her omni tool she welded the seal back together. Once that was complete she bypassed the automatic safeties and rerouted the system through the back-ups. Blinking furiously to rid herself of the sweat dripping into her eyes, she called the bridge, "Captain, I've sealed the leak but it will take time for the main power to be restored."

Then the ship VI announced, "DRIVE CORE TEMPERATURE REACHING CRITICAL LEVEL! EXPLOSION IMNIENANT! ALL CREW EVACUATE, REPEAT, ALL CREW EVACUATE!"

" _Rebecca get out of there now. You don't know anything about drive cores. Get to an escape pod at once. That's an order."_  The Captain ordered.

"I'm sorry sir, but I will not let this ship sink. I love you Mom," She added to Hannah before closing the line. She ran out of the control room and into the Core room. Good thing she had read her father's technical manuals for fun.

"WARNING! EEZO CONTAINMENT AT 30 PERCENT! TEN MINUTES TO CORE MELTDOWN!" The VI made another grim announcement.

"Damn," Rebecca cursed as she interfaced with the cooling system control. She tried to rewrite the protocols to turn the system on but the automatic system was damaged. Going to the main terminal she bypassed the circuitry and turned it on.

"System restart in progress. Please reset the coolant injectors." The VI instructed.

_How much damage did they do?_   _Of all the chances he had to get hurt, James had to pick today._  Rebecca mentally cursed as she ran across the maintenance walkway by the core itself. Once she located the coolant injects she proceeded to bypass their control protocols and switched them to manual. She was finishing with this when the VI shrieked again.

"DRIVE CORE CONTAINMENT FIELD DOWN! ELEMENT ZERO EXPOSURE AT DANGEROUS LEVELS! CORE BREACH IN THREE MINUTES!"

In too much of a hurry to even curse, Rebecca dashed back to the main terminal and started the reset. She ignored the odd feeling of numbness settling over her body as she focused on restoring the containment fields.

"Containment field restored. Please vent excess radiation." The VI droned.

Entering a few more keystrokes at her dad's terminal, Rebecca vented the radiation. She paused to catch her breath, failing to notice how she was glowing.

"DRIVE CORE HAS RETURNED TO NORMAL OPERATION! FUSION LEAK CONTAINED! MAIN POWER BACK ONLINE!" The VI finished with the ship wide announcement.

* * *

 

While Rebecca was busy saving the ship, the Marines were having a showdown with the terrorists on the flight deck.

"Let us through or your engineer dies and with him your ship." Angus prodded Seth forward as the group walked towards a waiting shuttle.

"Release him and we'll talk," Schulyer demanded.

"Not going to happen. I don't care if the ship blows up with me on it, my mission is complete either way. But I don't think you want to die just yet so I'd cooperate. Get out of our way now," Angus ordered menacingly.

Schulyer was torn, if he tried to take the terrorists Seth would die for certain. If he let them go, Seth still might die and the ship with it. "How can you guarantee you will let him live?"

"It's called trust and you don't have a choice." Angus smirked.

The ship VI announced, "DRIVE CORE TEMPERATURE REACHING CRITICAL LEVEL! EXPLOSION IMNIENANT! ALL CREW EVACUATE, REPEAT, ALL CREW EVACUATE!"

"Looks like you're running out of time. From my guess you have less than thirty minutes. In a ship this size, that'd be just enough time to evacuate…or fix the ship if you give in to my demands." Angus sneered.

"Do you have to be that cheesy?" Miranda hissed while keeping her gun on Seth.

"It worked didn't it?" Angus muttered back. Why was that girl constantly questioning his orders?

Schulyer tried to plead to their sense of humanity. "Do you have to kill him? He's a family man. You want to take him away from his kids? His wife?"

"Is that so?" Angus drawled as he shifted his gun and shot Seth in the shoulder. "Oh look, now he only has one arm. I guess your chances just got lower. Next one goes in the other arm…or maybe his head."

"WARNING! EEZO CONTAINMENT AT 30 PERCENT! TEN MINUTES TO CORE MELTDOWN!" The VI made another grim announcement.

From the hanger comm. the Captain ordered,  _"Fine we give in to your demands. Let him go and we'll let you go."_

Schulyer reluctantly ordered his men to stand down and watched as the terrorists reached the shuttle.

Miranda entered the shuttle cockpit to warm up the engines and to wait for the hanger doors to open.

Angus muttered in Ricardo's ear before entering the shuttle, "Clean up the mess."

Ricardo nodded and turning to Seth, kicked him to his knees. Then he put the gun to Seth's head and pulled the trigger.

Just then the VI announced, "DRIVE CORE CONTAINMENT FIELD DOWN! ELEMENT ZERO EXPOSURE AT DANGEROUS LEVELS! CORE BREACH IN THREE MINUTES!"

"So long Alliance fools. See you in hell." Ricardo turned to enter the shuttle when a well placed shot took him down.

From inside the shuttle Angus ordered Miranda, "Lift off. There's nothing we can do."

Quickly the shuttle powered up and blasted out of the cruiser at top speed. "We have less than three minutes to get to a safe distance. Then our mission is complete. Best plan I ever came up with," Angus gloated.

Miranda snorted. Any plan that sacrificed two highly trained operatives was a failure but she wisely kept that to herself. A twinge of guilt struck her at the thought of Mrs. Shepard's loss of her husband and son. But the mission had to be achieved at any cost didn't it?

* * *

 

The entire bridge and CIC was utterly silent as the monitors showed the results of the hostage situation. As the shock wore off that they had lost their chief engineer and their last hope at saving the ship, the reactions were varied.

Lisa gasped, "Oh my god those monsters! How could they?"

Martha sobbed silently over her terminal. Those poor children to lose their father like this…

Brewer cursed up a blue streak. Seth hadn't been so bad for a grease monkey and he didn't deserve the death he had received.

Captain Everett sat silently reflecting on this loss and with it, his command. He resigned himself to going down with his ship.

Hannah stared at her console, frozen as she relived the moment when her husband, love of her life and best friend had died. In her entire career as an Alliance officer, she had never allowed her personal feelings to get in the way of her duties but now she felt such overwhelming grief that it was all she could do to stop herself from wailing and curling up into a ball. Her husband was dead, her son was in med-bay and her daughter's last communications indicated she was down in Engineering where there was now an Eezo leak. In the space of a single afternoon her life had been shredded to bits.

"DRIVE CORE HAS RETURNED TO NORMAL OPERATION! FUSION LEAK CONTAINED! MAIN POWER BACK ONLINE!" The VI snatched Hannah out of her gloomy thoughts.

Brewer's jaw dropped at the announcement and with a few keystrokes brought up the monitors for Engineering. "Holy crap, she did it. Hannah your daughter's a hero!"

Lisa burst into tears of happiness and relief that she was still alive.

Martha puffed up with pride. She had always known Rebecca could save the ship.

Hannah snapped her head up. "What? She did what?"

"She stopped the leak and saved the ship. Rebecca came through." Brewer announced happily for once. Maybe the Shepard children weren't so bad after all.

Captain Everett allowed the cheers ringing through the ship to continue for a few moments before he stopped them. "Settle down. I want status reports on all areas of the ship, evacuation orders canceled, injured personnel moved to med-bay, and a full roll call. Send out shuttles to recover our life pods." He ordered over the ship wide comm. Switching off, he left his chair to walk over to Lt. Shepard. "Hannah I'm relieving you of duty. Go find your children. And I'm sorry for your loss."

Hannah gathered her emotions and saluted smartly, aware of the pitying stares from the bridge crew. "Yes sir. Thank you sir," Then she exited the bridge, her trademark brisk walk in place and her back straight. She didn't allow herself to slump until she was in the elevator alone. There she wrapped her arms around herself and let the tears fall.

 


	2. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of Cerberus's terrorist attack of the Alliance SSV Geneva, everyone is feeling the horrors. But as Hannah worries over her children and the crew gathers together, a traitor from within their ranks plots to silence the captured Lopez. In the meantime Miranda finds herself still alive after a meeting with an irate Illusive Man. As Miranda takes her first steps within the organization that will define her for decades to come, the Shepard twins little realize their lives are about to change as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey, I'm very sorry for the hella slow update-I really meant to have it up but I haven't been able to pay for my subscription to Office 365 yet and it took me a while before I realized I have Word Pad on the computer to work with (I really don't want to download any free office suites because I am planning on getting 365 back.) Also before that happened I totally lost Internet service and cell phone service in the same blow so it was really difficult communicating with the outside world without any kind of telephone, tv, or Internet. I have Internet and cell phone service back now but I'm afraid it's put my update schedule massively out of date. Please forgive me.
> 
> And now a note on the twins: For those who were unsure, James and Rebecca were indeed biotics prior to Rebecca’s secondary exposure in the end of Chapter 1…they are twins people, so it’d be impossible for only one to be exposed when they shared the womb. And yes I realize Mass Effect mentioned there are other ways for people to be born besides au natural inside the mother the entire nine or whatever months but the twins were naturally born/carried for all eight months(eight months for twins). It’s just their biotics are fairly average, nothing special except now Rebecca is up to the level of skill that Shepard is mentioned to be when you choose a biotic class. But Shepard is actually always a biotic regardless of your class hence why you can have a biotic bonus talent, but depending on what they chose to focus on determines their strength and knowhow of biotics. So basically James is nothing special in the biotics department whereas Rebecca is probably up there in the top five human biotics. Will James decide to do a biotic class? Well I ain’t telling until Chapter 5. Then you can see what the twins will be.

**Disclaimer: Mass Effect belongs to Bioware and EA Games much to our disappointment. If it did belong to us, Mass 3 would have had a better ending. That aside, I own the OCs, and the personalities I gave to Hannah Shepard and Anita Goyle. Oh and I'm borrowing the demons from Ace Combat 5. I love those guys. They're awesome.**

By the time the elevator doors opened onto the deck containing med-bay Hannah had pulled herself together but she knew from the sideways glances some crewman gave her that she hadn't hid the evidence very well. At the moment she didn't care very much what she looked like. Let them think what they wanted. She was perfectly aware they saw her as some sort of ice queen but she learned enough to let such ideas pass over harmlessly. Like Seth had once told her, “People will think what they want, and getting angry only makes them believe it more.” Seth. His name caught in her throat and she stopped to hold back the wall of grief. If it wasn't for the fact she had to be there for her children, she might have given up then and there. As it was she struggled to find the old Hannah, the one who could set aside such emotions until the proper place and time.

After an eternity she slipped inside the med-bay. Amidst the people bustling about, she found the ship’s doctor and approached the man.

“Doctor Lewis! Can I speak with you a moment?” Hannah asked, her mask in place.

Doctor Lewis stopped raking a narrow hand through gray hair that had once been black as night to address the woman. His sharp brown eyes noticed the signs of grieving underneath the mask and the slight tinge of desperation in her voice. “I’ll allow you to see James but you'll have to wait to visit Rebecca for a while.”

Hannah started to thank the man but then his sentence caught up with her. “What’s wrong with Rebecca?”

Doctor Lewis sighed and drew her aside to an empty chair where she could sit.. “Lt. Shepard not long after the main power came back online and this bustle started one of the crew members made a discovery. To be specific Lt. O’Neil was waiting on the elevator when he found your daughter unconscious inside it. After she was brought to the med-bay I gave her anti-radiation meds and stabilized her condition.” He looked around and then whispered to Hannah “However she was exposed to a high level of element zero which supercharged her biotics to the point she may be a danger to herself or the ship without training. Therefore I must recommend you send her to BAaT.”

Hannah couldn't believe the same man who agreed to hide Rebecca’s biotic potential since Hannah was assigned to the Geneva would say such a thing. This was why she transferred from post to post so often. “I will not send my daughter to a hell hole without any way to contact her. Haven't you heard all those rumors that all people in BAaT are never seen again?” She accused in an angry tone, her accent slipping into a drawl. Only her self-discipline stopped her from going over the line.

“Calm down Lt. It was not my intention to upset you. I'm only trying to think about what’s in her best interest.” Dr. Lewis held up his hands in a placating manner.

Hannah pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “I appreciate your concern but I do not want her going there. There must be a better option.”

Dr. Lewis considered for a moment. “I’m not sure. The Alliance has a pretty strict policy about biotics. I suppose if you were to send her to Arcturus Station there might be specialists who could monitor her better than a ship doctor could. Do you know anyone there who could take care of her?”

“I have too much on my mind right now. I’d like to get back to you on that.. Now, how is James?” Hannah asked anxiously.

Dr. Lewis sighed and answered, “He has six cracked ribs, a compound fracture in his lower arm and a severe concussion. He has massive discoloration on his torso from the broken ribs but thanks to prompt treatment in the field his condition is stable. However he won't be moving about for a couple days.”

“May I sit with him now?” Hannah’s eyes were hopeful.

“Of course, follow me.” Doctor Lewis walked to the far corner of the med-bay where James was lying on a medical bed naked from the waist up swathed in medi-gel with a light wrapping for his ribs. After leading her there, he took his leave.

Hannah perched on a stool and gently took her son’s hand. She had always loved both her children but she and James had always been closer. He was her little boy, much as Rebecca had been Seth’s little girl. “How are you holding up son?” She spoke softly.

“It’s nothing too serious, just a few bumps and bruises. Where’s Dad? Isn't he with you? Did we win? Is the Ambassador safe?” James looked at his mother expectantly, waiting for the answers. His mother always told him the truth when he asked. 

Hannah couldn't hide the sorrow from her face and she took a deep breath to explain. Even before she began she watched as his eyes became cautious, already guarding against the bad news. “You and your sister did a good job in protecting the Ambassador. You held off the intruders long enough for Schulyer and the Marines to find you and drive them away. You've been hurt pretty bad though. While you were unconscious the intruders attacked the ship at the drive core and sabotaged the ship so there was a fusion leak and the core was unstable. It nearly exploded which is what they were counting on. They killed the engineers on duty but they took Seth hostage to escape. In the hangar bay just before they got on the shuttle one of them…” Her throat closed up and she saw it replay again in horrible slow motion. She swallowed and finished her narrative, “They killed him in cold blood. He’s dead Jim.”

James’s face was still as he processed this information but he couldn't hide the shock or sudden grief. Dad was dead? “Why? Why did he have to die?” He couldn't stop the anguished sobs from overcoming him. Reaching up with his free hand he tried to wipe away the tears but they were too much.

Hannah had never seen James cry like this, not even as a toddler learning to walk and falling down in the process. He had been a quiet baby too, watching the world around him with eyes that were far too observant and knowing. Now though he sobbed, and her heart twisted with grief. If she could have, she would never tell him just to spare him, but she knew the world didn’t work that way. He was far too intelligent and the crew was too loose with their talk for him to not piece it together. She pressed back her own tears so as to be strong for her boy. “Shhh, it'll be okay. Don't worry…shhh…” She murmured and stroked his hair. Softly she hummed a beautiful lullaby she vaguely recalled her own mother singing to her when she was small. It was an old one,, dating back centuries but it still worked.

Eventually soothed by the lullaby James’s tears came to a hiccuping sob and stopped as he fell asleep.

Hannah sat with him watching over him as he slept. She could see his pain as he took each breath. It hurt her that all she could do was wait for the medi-gel to take effect. She took this time to deal with her own grief so that she could strong for James and eventually Rebecca.  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
The next morning found Hannah a bit stiff from not sleeping in her own bed. She had changed to an empty medical bed sometime in the night but her dreams were haunted with memories of Seth. She was on her stool when James woke.

He opened his eyes and looked around before he spotted his mother. “Have you been here all night?”

“Of course I was, I’m your mother.” Hannah was disappointed in his lack of faith in her.  
“How’s Becca taking this news? Where IS Becca?” He asked suddenly, eyes darting around frantically for his twin. “Is she okay?” His throat closed up at the thought of his sister being gone too.

Hannah read the fear accurately and did her best to dispel it. “She’s alive Jim but…”

“But what? What happened?” James pinned her with a commanding stare very much like her own.

“Remember how the intruders sabotaged the drive core and nearly destroyed this ship? Well Rebecca felt it her duty after you were unconscious to go to Engineering and fix it. I think she was looking for Seth but finding the engineers dead she proceeded to fix the leak. In the process though she was exposed to nuclear radiation from the fusion core and…” Hannah pressed her lips together remembering the rest of it. She could still hear the VI shrieking the warnings, now mixed in with Lewis’s words about the biotics. 

“Becca saved the ship but she has radiation poisoning. How bad is it?” James wondered what Hannah wasn't telling him. There was something more, he knew it.

“She’s stable but it’s serious. Doctor Lewis has isolated her and is monitoring her constantly. She’s on medication but these things take time. She’s fortunate she got herself to an elevator before collapsing. O’Neil found her and brought her here.” Hannah answered. She saw the suspicious look in his eye but she couldn't bring herself to tell him. Rebecca didn't even know yet.

James was filled with worry for Rebecca but he couldn't help the pride in his sister. Engineering wasn't easy for the untrained but she had stepped up and used her knowledge to do it anyway by herself. It nearly made his effort to protect the Ambassador with his gun skills laughable. Saving one person was easy but stopping a starship from blowing up after sabotage? That was amazing. “So she hasn't woken up yet? How long has it been?”

“She’ll be out for a while. You on the other hand need to sleep.” Hannah told James.

“But I don't want to,” James protested whining a bit.

“I don't care if you want to or not, you WILL go to sleep and you WILL not leave this bed until the Doctor says you can. How else do you expect to heal? Is that clear James Malcolm Shepard?” Hannah barked, command face on.

James knew when she used his middle name he had crossed the line. “Yes Ma’am.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


_In an Unknown base near the Planet Noveria....._

Miranda and Angus had arrived safely convinced their mission had succeeded. They promptly reported in to to the leader of Cerberus via a communications array. While they may have been on a normal albeit secret base, their leader was in parts unknown that nobody save the very highest officers knew the location of. Angus was too much of a small fry and Miranda had only recently joined the group after fleeing from her father with her baby sister in tow. Oriana was now placed with a foster family while Miranda worked in Cerberus to ensure her safety from Henry Lawson.

On his own secret base the Illusive Man switched on his monitor. “Ah, Operative Ross, you’re back. I trust the mission was successful.” He put out his cigarette in the nearby ash tray and looked them straight in the eye. His tone sounded normal but there was a slight falseness in it, as if he was waiting to spring something onto them. 

Miranda took her chances and spoke up before Angus could. “Sir, the mission was only mildly successful. The Ambassador got away from our first attempt. Her security was too thorough and we lost Gabriel in the firefight.” Her accented voice, showing her roots as Australian, held disgust.

Angus interrupted Miranda, before she could tell more of the truth. In a thick Scottish voice he said, “So I took the initiative and ordered plan B into action. Ricardo and I secured the Engineering room and were sabotaging the Mass Effect Core when Miranda finally showed up after running away from the firefight. We rigged it to blow, took the Chief Engineer hostage and managed to secure our escape thanks to our mole. The ship blew shortly after we left.”

Miranda clenched her jaw as Angus lied about the operation and the longer she stood there, the madder she got. Oh sure, his report had pieces of the truth but the lies in there only served to paint her in a terrible light.

“Really,” The Illusive Man mocked, his falseness revealed as his knowledge of the truth. “Would you like me to share what Operative Walker’s report to me said?”

Miranda’s rage turned to fear in an instant. If the Illusive Man found out she had been defeated by a little boy her life was over.

“This is directly from his report, ‘Operative Ross completely botched the mission and only Operative Lawson’s quick thinking allowed for any chance of success from such a flawed plan.’ Do you have anything to add Mr. Ross?” The Illusive Man’s face went from mocking to murderous by the end of the quote.

“Ummm…but..she failed to kill the Ambassador! Her blunder cost us everything!” Angus was panicking at the news that he was directly responsible for the failure. Everyone knew the price for failure in this organization was death.

“That’s interesting Mr. Ross but your mission was a total failure from the planning stages to the execution. The ship did not even sustain serious damage is even now, en route to the Citadel. Plus to compound your failure, Operative Lopez was captured and our security is compromised. The Alliance now knows our true purpose. As a result I must accelerate all our plans and cover up this revelation. Now as for you Operative Lawson, it is regrettable you could not take out the Ambassador but I understand there were unforeseen circumstances that you could not adapt to. So in light of your great effort I will excuse your failure, just this once. However before you go, please deal with the mess,” The Illusive Man terminated his transmission. As he did, a single pistol shot rang out in the silence.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_On the SSV Geneva_

Chief Fred Walker’s omni tool beeped twice alerting him to the fact he had new encrypted e-mail. He quickly opened it from his position under yet another broken trident fighter:

_Thanks for the support. If possible TIM has ordered you to neutralize Lopez before he talks. –M-_

Walker cursed as he deleted the e-mail with a scrubbing program that removed all traces of it. If there had ever been a more difficult mission he had yet to think of it. Spying and hacking were fine but outright killing people without being caught? This was out of his league. TIM had ordered it though and if Walker wanted to see his next paycheck he had better follow orders.

_Is there an escape plan? When I pull this off I’ll need one. –W-_

He sent off the e-mail, scrubbed its existence away, and went back to work.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Down in the brig of the _Geneva_ , Ricardo cowered as two men circled him, like vultures. The big Marine with the armor and weapons looked like trouble but it was the blond man in officer’s clothing that scared him. “What do you want from me?” He burst out, desperate to break the silence that had been place for the last ten minutes.

“What do you think we want?” hissed the officer in a German accent. He stopped circling and glared at Ricardo with icy cold blue eyes.

“How should I know?” Ricardo responded, a quiver in his voice.

The black Marine put on a smile that was meant to be reassuring but only scared Ricardo more. “Look pal, what the Commander is trying to say is that you're in a lot of trouble. I mean just trying to murder the Ambassador and blowing the ship up was bad enough but killing the Chief Engineer only worsened your case. As it stands right now you could be executed for your crimes.”

Ricardo’s jaw dropped. “E-executed? But the Alliance are a bunch of soft…” he suddenly remembered where he was and shut up.

The officer smiled coldly as he chimed in, “I'm sure a smart man like you would rather be alive. If you don’t tell us a few things then I won't be able to prevent your execution.” Despite his words the man looked anything but friendly as though he'd much rather enjoy Ricardo’s execution.

“Or we could let Hannah come in. Between the two of us she’s scarier than the Commander.” The Marine stage whispered.

“W-what? Who’s Hannah” Squeaked Ricardo in his chair.

“You remember the Chief Engineer? She’s his widow. And she’s chomping at the bit to break you into pieces.” Actually Hannah was too busy in taking care of her children to worry about the prisoner in the brig but Schulyer didn't need to tell the truth. 

The Commander broke in. “I’ve never seen her so mad before. I wonder what she'll do.”

“Maybe she'll cut him into little pieces with her omni-blade. I'm sure she’s been practicing.” The Marine offered.

“No, she'll probably use him for target practice. She does hold the ship record in marksmanship. Then she'll cut him up.”

“How about I ask her?”

“Let’s wait Chief. Maybe our friend will cooperate.”

“I’m not scared of a woman.” Lopez sneered though he wondered if anything they said was true.

“Why don't I go get her and you can prove that?” The officer sneered down his long nose.

“Wait! Please, I'll talk, I'll talk! Don’t give me to her!” The terrorist whimpered.

Commander Fleischer exchanged a look with the Chief. Then he smiled. “Very well, we'll consider it. Now, who do you work for and what is their goal?”

“I work for Cerberus. We fight for Humanity’s preservation and advancement,” The terrorist babbled.

“Interesting. Why do they feel the need to kill the Alliance to do it? We fight for the same thing.” Fleischer mused aloud.

“Maybe he’s lying to us. Rats like him do like to lie,” Schulyer cracked his knuckles.

“I'm not lying! The Alliance are just selling out to those filthy aliens! All they want to do is exploit us and keep us down because they know we're better than they are.” The terrorist shouted defiantly.

“So why'd you kill the Chief Engineer? You had what you wanted.” Schulyer glared. He could only imagine what Hannah and the kids were going through.

“It was orders! And we no longer needed him!” The terrorist glared back.

With a roar Schulyer lunged at the prisoner. His armored fist smashed into the prisoner’s face breaking his nose. Before he could inflict further bodily harm he was pulled off by Commander Fleischer.

“You need a break. Take it..” Fleischer ordered.

“Yes sir.” Schulyer growled and stomped out of the cell.

“You'll received proper medical treatment. We're not monsters like your people.” Fleischer stated coldly before taking his leave.

Outside the cell, Schulyer sighed. “I’m sorry sir, I didn't mean to lose control.”

“I can sympathize. However this matter must be handled delicately and your act unraveled hours of work. I’d advice more caution in the future. Dismissed.” Commander Fleischer strode off toward the elevator.

Schulyer began walking as well, intending to go to the shooting range. As he passed by the heavy weapon storage he nodded to Walker who was entering it.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walker’s preparations were nearly in place. All there was left to do was to take inventory and implement his plan. After counting all the Javelin missiles he hacked the surveillance system and started up his film loop of him taking the rest of the inventory. Once that was in place he entered the maintenance tunnels and set off the bomb he'd placed on the power relay for the brig. 

As soon as the power was cut he slipped out and headed toward the brig. He had spent enough time in this area to know it like the back of his hand. Upon reaching the cell that he knew contained Lopez he activated his modified omni blade and began cutting. The super-heated blade made short work of the door and he stepped inside. 

In the darkness Lopez snapped his head up at hearing somebody enter. “W-Who’s there?”

“Did you talk?” Walker’s voice reached Lopez’s ears.

Lopez realized immediately who this was. It had to be the mole, the one who got them aboard and the intel they needed. “I-I had to. They were going to sic this Hannah woman on me and…” He gasped as he felt something stab him in the chest before he slumped to the floor dead.

Walker curled his lip at the bloodied corpse. “You're disgusting.” Turning, he left the cell and slipped into the maintenance tunnels. Now that Lopez was dead it wouldn't take the Alliance long before he was caught. Good thing he had contacted Miranda and arranged for an escape plan..

  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Earlier in the CIC_

“Ma’am we have a problem with the power relay for the brig.” Brewer announced.

Hannah closed her eyes as she struggled to stop the feeling of despair. This week had been pure hell and it just got worse. “What kind of problem Brewer?” She prayed it was just a malfunction.

“The power’s been terminated and not by an authorized source. This isn't confirmed but my guess is somebody sabotaged the power relay to do something in the brig we're not supposed to know about.” Brewer reported grimly.

Lisa’s mouth trembled dangerously as she understood. “More terrorists?” She all but wailed.

Hannah’s green eyes grew ice cold as she snapped at the girl. “Get a hold of yourself damn it! You're a soldier not a crybaby civilian. Put out a ship wide alert and get the Marines down to the brig immediately! Have Chief Walker secure the hangar and flight deck. I don't want anybody escaping. Alert Captain Everett and Commander Fleischer of the situation. I also need a crew to get to work repairing that power relay ASAP. I want to know what the hell is going on down there and any terrorist apprehended before more damage is done.” There was no way she'd sit there and let these terrorists trample all over her without putting up a fight.

Frenzied by orders and the rare occurrence of Hannah swearing, the CIC crew went to work.

  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walker had almost made it to the fighter he was escaping in when the ship wide alert went out. Looks like somebody had noticed his little trick with the power. While it might take the Alliance a while before they realized he was responsible he could be called to repair the broken relay which was the last thing he needed right now. 

“Sir where are you going?” A young mechanic saluted as he paused in his rush to grab a weapon for defense.

“Just making sure the fighter craft have been secured and that nobody’s planning to use one to escape.” Walker lied smoothly. Having spent so many years in the Alliance as a sleeper agent he had built up a lot of respect and no freshly enlisted mechanic would dare question his word.

The mechanic’s eyes brightened. “That’s an excellent suggestion sir. May I secure the shuttle craft for you?”

“Good thinking Brown. But make sure to arm yourself afterwards. Don’t want a repeat of yesterday after all.” Walker ordered before hurrying away.

He made a show of securing the fighter craft before he reached the one he had prepared. The few belongings he needed to have were stowed away and into a basic survival kit that was also there. Hopefully he could make it to the coordinates where the Cerberus freighted waited before being shot down by pursuing craft.

_“Walker seal off the hangar. The terrorist may be trying to escape.”_ Captain Everett ordered.

“Aye sir,” Walker responded and then eased the fighter forward as he typed in the command to open the bay doors. The second they were open enough for the craft to escape he pushed the throttle and gloried as he sped out into space. He remembered the old days as a fighter pilot before becoming a mechanic and a smile having nothing to do with his escape lit his face.

  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the CIC alarms shrieked as the hangar bay opened and one of their tridents sped out like a demon out of hell.

“Shit!” Brewer swore violently and glared at her screens.

Everett ignored the curse as he gave his next order. “Scramble the pilots and prepare to launch a pursuit but only if the GUARDIAN lasers fail to shot him down.”

“Aye sir,” Martha answered and she went to work. The blood drained out of her face as she typed a command and nothing happened. “Sir there’s something wrong with the lasers. I can't seem to activate them at all.”

Everett gritted his teeth and he turned to Hannah. “Shepard the pilots-“

“Are launching now. Lt. O’Neil is leading.” Hannah answered. Thankfully the fighter pilots had scrambled to the hangar as soon as the alert came and only had to prepare the craft for launch with her order.

A communications line opened up and O’Neil’s voice came into the CIC. _“Sir, this is Sylvan. I’m in pursuit of escaping craft. Before I launched a mechanic told me his Chief was checking the fighters before the doors opened. I think he’s our escaper.”_

Hannah couldn't stop the shock nor could the rest of the CIC. The fact that the hangar opening just after Walker was given the order to seal them and this new fact pointed to Walker only made the shock worse. He had been a dedicated man, part of the Alliance since well before the First Contact War. It seemed impossible he could be an enemy agent.

Everett recovered first and gave the orders, “Fox leader permission to shoot to kill granted.”

_“Aye sir.”_

  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

O'Neil grimly maneuvered his fighter through space, in full speed after the traitor. He knew there had been something off about Walker today but he couldn't figure it out. The man seemed just slightly agitated, like he was waiting for something. There could have been a thousand reasons as to what so O'Neil had dismissed it. Now though, he knew Walker was a traitor. One way or another Walker would pay.

O'Neil gritted his teeth as he opened a channel to his squadron. "Alright boys we'll give him one chance to surrender, then we'll shoot to kill."

_"Aw man why did the terrorist have to steal an interceptor?"_ Chopper grumbled.

_"Shut up Chopper."_ Blaze snapped in a rare show of temper. _"This is serious."_

Before O'Neil could cut in, his wingman Swordsman beat him to it. _"Cut the chatter. Sir, we need a plan. If I may I'll take Archer and try to cut him off from the right."_

Not to be outdone Edge chimed in, _"How about me and Blaze cut him off from the left?"_

"Roger that. Chopper you're stuck with me." O'Neil ordered.

_"Aww. I thought I got Archer today."_

"You should've thought of that before you mouthed off."

_"Geez why do I get all the rotten luck? I swear man." Chopper fell into silence._

  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walker's radar chimed as two fighters flanked him on each side with two more hot on his tail. "O'Neil." He growled. That drunken excuse for a pilot who had gotten him grounded permanently. "This will be fun."

Then his radio crackled to life and Archer ordered, _"Attention bogey. Return to the ship at once or we will shoot you down."_

Walker sneered over an open channel. _"That's just like you O'Neil sending kids to do a man's job."_

O'Neil ignored the jab and asked the question that really mattered."Why did you turn your back on the Alliance? What do they have over you?"

_"I don't know what you're talking about."_ Walker banked left and engaged the first fighter he could. Locked on, he sent a missile at Blaze who smoothly dodged with a quick flip. Walker followed his maneuver and fired a barrage of bullets that punched through his shields.

_"I'm taking fire,"_ Blaze reported remarkably calm under the circumstances.

Edge tried to get the pressure off by locking onto Walker."Eat this." She launched the missile at Walker, forcing him to break right.

Walker continued his turn to evade the missile and engage a new target.

Edge tried to follow but the G-forces were too much for her drive core to handle."Shit my drive core."

_"Something wrong Edge? I could have sworn I fixed that. Oh well you shouldn't have gone up with a sick bird."_ Walker launched a new barrage of bullets at her.

Edge was too focused on evading the fire to reply but between her fighter refusing those tight turns and his constant fire her chances of survival were grim.

Just as she thought her dreams of living to a ripe old age were gone the most beautiful voice she'd ever heard ordered, _"Edge break left!"_

As she did, Blaze swooped in with a ferocious barrage landing many hits on Walker.

_"Hang on Honey, the Calvary is coming to save ya!"_ Chopper sang as he gleefully charged after Walker.

O'Neil's heart stopped as Edge desperately evaded. Damn Walker for not doing his job. "Chopper we have to get in there."

_"Whatever you say boss, let's turn and burn."_

Just as O'Neil lost hope, Blaze saved the day. That boy deserves a medal. "Blaze, Edge, RTB*. We'll take it from here."

Chopper couldn't resist. _"Nice job lover boy. Now take your woman and go home. I'll tell you all about how I win this thing."_

  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As the two fighters limped away, Walker snarled to himself. Beaten by a kid. What the hell? He glanced at his HUD to assess the damage to his fighter. Luckily he still had his engines but the kid had knocked out his kinetic barriers and his weapons.

Before O'Neil's flight could attack, a Kowloon class freighter dropped out of FTL on top of their position.

_"Where did that come from?!" Swordsman exclaimed over the radio._

_"We've got bogeys at six o' clock high." Archer reported in._

Even as the words left his mouth six heavily modified Trident fighters dropped out of the cargo compartments and aggressively charged into the battle.

Archer broke out in a cold sweat as his early warning system screamed in his ear. Gripping the stick he did a rapid roll to avoid the oncoming projectiles. Just as he recovered he was forced into a split S to dodge a full on barrage. As the battle continued it seemed as if no matter what he did, the modded fighters kept on top of him. Only his considerable natural talent prevented his inevitable demise.

Swordsman swore as he too was forced to go evasive. "I'm getting too old for this shit." Determined to hit back, he quickly broke to the left and after a vicious combination of a loop to loop with an S turn he locked on to one of his bogies. Before he could fire the fighter broke into a steep ascent at a speed Swordsman couldn't hope to follow.

His radio came to life as Archer began to panic. _"Sir I can't get this guy off me. I need help immediately!"_

"Hang on I'm coming." Swordsman instructed and broke off pursuit to save Archer. His bogies had other ideas as they finally landed a hit, causing his shields to flicker. "You'll have to hold on a bit longer, I've got flies to swat before they swat me." He turned his fighter around to deal with the situation.

  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Things were getting desperate quickly for the Alliance fighters and O'Neil could only swear violently as the bridge of the Geneva hailed him. "I hope this is important because I've got six new bogies out here and I don't think they're here to discuss the beauty of the stars." He snarled as he turned sharply to the right to avoid another barrage.

_"I didn't call for insubordination Lt. I called for a status report."_ Commander Fleischer rebuked him.

"Would it be too much trouble to get some help out here? The enemy is eating us alive. I'm not even sure if Walker is still here." O'Neil gritted his teeth as he took a hit to his right wing. The fighter shuddered before the kinetic barriers flicked back on.

_"I'll send Blaze and Edge back out with our last working fighters. Unfortunately Walker sabotaged the rest of them."_ Fleischer's tone became frigid as he spoke of the sabotage.

_"That dirty rat, no matter my fighter's been so sluggish."_ Chopper broke in.

_"Wonderful. Now if you don't mind, I've got to acquaint this bogey with my guns."_ O'Neil closed the line and did an Immelmann turn** before dropping behind the enemy fighter. He promptly locked on and let out a barrage that managed to punch through the bogey's shields. Before he could finish it off, the bogey banked right at an astounding speed.

_"Hey what gives? My bogey just peeled off like he just remembered an appointment."_ Archer exclaimed.

_"Yeah mine too!"_ Chopper interrupted.

_"Check that freighter."_ Swordsman cut across the chatter. _"It's picking up all the fighters. Damn! It jumped into FTL. We'll never get Walker now."_

_"Aww there goes my glory."_ Chopper grumbled as he flew back to the Geneva.

_"Cheer up. At least we're alive."_ Archer pointed out.

"Alright form up and RTB." O'Neil ordered. "Command's not gonna like this."  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

O'Neil led his flight into the hangar where a stormy Commander Fleischer waited.

"Oh great, the Commander's on a warpath again. Better take cover boss." Chopper moaned.

"Look on the bright side; at least it's not Lt. Shepard." Archer chimed in.

"Alright that's enough." O'Neil ordered before he shut down his fighter.

O'Neil and company climbed out of their tridents and stood at attention.

"Briefing room now," The Commander snapped as he about faced and marched to the briefing room.

"Oh shit." Blaze muttered under his breath as they followed the Commander.

  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Inside the briefing room, Captain Everett waited at O'Neil's desk. His face appeared collected but his rigid posture indicated otherwise.

Blaze took his seat next to his wingman Edge and silently prayed that Chopper would keep his big mouth shut. Lt. O'Neil was in enough trouble without Chopper adding to it.

Edge covertly grabbed Blaze's hand and squeezed it in reassurance.

"Do you mind explaining why my best pilots failed to capture one fighter?" Everett asked quietly furious.

Archer gulped audibly. The last he wanted to do was piss off the Captain.

"Well sir, we were ambushed. A freighter jumped out of FTL and dropped a load of bogeys on us. In the confusion Walker got away." O'Neil reported.

"Then why didn't you shoot him down before the freighter appeared?" Everett continued.

O'Neil clenched his fists, his Irish temperament starting to show. "With all due respect sir, he's a damn good pilot. If he hadn't been injured in the war, he'd have shot us down."

Before his CO could get himself into more trouble, Blaze interrupted. "Sir, I want to add all of our interceptors were disabled but the one he escaped in. Our attackers were sabotaged and it was a miracle we all came back alive."

"Also sir," Edge jumped in next to Blaze. "The enemy we were facing used heavily modified fighters. They appeared to be similar to Alliance tridents but their mobility and firepower was double ours."

Chopper's eyes lit up as he started to put in his two cents but a swift elbow from Swordsman produced a slight gasp instead.

Fleischer ground his teeth at this display of insubordination. "Fine then, you're to assist the mechanics in repairing ALL of the fighters in your off duty hours."

"Dismissed," Everett waited until the pilots shuffled out before addressing his XO. "Ease up Eric. They did all they could and their report did line up with Hannah's."

"True sir, but they were insubordinate. A few weeks in the grease pit should cure them of that." Fleischer smirked.

Everett kept his opinion to himself. "Carry on then. I'll be in my quarters finishing my letter to Seth Shepard's parents."

"Yes sir." Fleischer saluted and followed him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my original draft/version of this chapter I was planning on taking this a little farther but when I came to this point it just felt right to stop. I did work hard to make this a quality piece and I hope it shows. Thank you for reading and maybe drop a line or two. Feedback helps a lot, believe me. 
> 
> The Ace Combat 5 characters(in other words the pilots that were not O'Neil or Walker who are my original characters) were mainly borrowed as filler characters although Blaze and Edge might make a comeback in the third story which you guessed it, covers Mass Effect 3. Just wait and see.
> 
> The next chapter will see Rebecca waking up and the funeral for the deceased crewmen taking place. We'll also be seeing extended family for the twins on Seth's side-the Shepard family in other words- because I have a huge extended family myself so I thought the twins should have at least a few other family members besides their parents. Remember this story revolves more of my take on what if Shepard had more family than in the game and how would that family affect them during the course of saving the galaxy multiple times.
> 
> On a personal note although I don't understand coding or anything, I DID teach myself how to put in bold and italic text using HTML formatting today. And to think all I had to do was Google it. That is the only coding thing I know but hey at least it means I preserve my original way of formatting text. And I know it works so yay! I feel smarter already(sadly unlike James and Rebecca I am not a tech person. I only learned stuff today because of the way AO3 formats things-more of a do it yourself than what I am used to.) Well I can also do a form of breaks and paragraphs too. But the stuff I taught myself from Google was bold and italic text in HTML and then the break and paragraph part I learned by previewing my work in HTML to see how my noob coding was holding up-and from there I was able to figure out what the little symbols for paragraph and break meant and what they looked like. It was a fascinating discovery figuring out what things mean, even if its only a few simple things. I could have simply used the break code and left what amounted to a big space in the chapter but I've always found comfort in that obvious line to separate scenes or viewpoints so I used both. I hope in the end the flow isn't disrupted by how I formatted the work-as I said, I'm very dumb when it comes to technology and I'm having to teach myself through Googling questions. I hope my code isn't horrible :)
> 
> Chapter 3 will be up next week, if not sooner. As I mentioned I'm catching this up to where it's currently posted on fanfiction dot net and that site has 4 chapters so everything you're getting here is what will be for them, the revised/improved version. So I have to go over my current Chapter 3 and 4 and make them better before I can post here and on the site. Chapter 5 is what I'm literally writing right now-I know that seems weird to jump from revising previous chapters to writing a new one to going back and making sure the revised ones are posted correctly but it works for me. Not only does it help me to think, it also ensures as few plot holes as possible simply by the fact I'm constantly reading and thinking about what I did before so the new piece flows right into it rather than forgets anything. So, once I have Chapter 4 up, you guys will be concurrent with fanfiction dot net and Chpater 5 will be brand new for both sites!! 
> 
> Thanks for reading and waiting guys, gals, and anything in between! I love you all very much :D


	3. A Parting of Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter now for the bearer of bad news, a funeral, and life changing yet again for the twins! Also introduced here is Uncle Mark and Aunt Naomi on the Shepard side-in the form of Mark being Seth's older brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry for the delay. Life has been crazy but here is chapter 3! Also forgive me for the liberties I take with Arcturus in this chapter and from here on out-at the time I wrote Chapter 3 and 4 originally, it was before I played Mass Effect 1 and therefore read the codex entries about Arcturus. So maybe some of the things present isn't how Bioware envisioned it but I did my own spin on the space station(hah, spin) and took inspiration from the likes of Babylon 5 and Deep Space Nine. Actually come to think of it, my envisioning of the sizing of the Alliance cruisers is pretty Trek inspired also-darn you Next Generation and little kids running around- so yeah, chalk it up to me knowing more of the other sci-fi things than Mass Effect during the original draft(not anymore!). But that's why this is an AU, so I can do fun things and flesh things out the way I want them.

_Later that week..._

Hannah entered the med bay, her eyes scanning the place for her missing son. She sighed in relief as she found James slumped over at his sister's bedside, asleep. Despite orders to stay in their quarters and rest, James had snuck down to the med bay every day since Rebecca was out of isolation. Just before she shook James awake, she noticed Rebecca's small smile.

The hum of the engines lured her from oblivion, followed by steady beeping with the undertone of James snoring. She smiled, that both James and the ship were alright. As she fought to open her eyes, she felt something hard underneath her that wasn't her bed. When her eyes opened the first thing that came into focus was her twin with his mouth open slightly as he snored. His hair stuck up in different places from sleeping, but he looked perfectly healthy. "James." She slurred, and stopped. Her voice sounded funny, like she had been unconscious for a long time.

His eyes flew open and zeroed in on her. A large grin lit his face but he held back from hugging her and she wondered why. "Becca you're okay!"

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. Something was wrong, beyond her weakness in every part of her body. "Why wouldn't I be?"

There was a cough, and she noticed for the first time her mother standing besides James. Hannah looked as though she had aged years, and the grief in her eyes hadn't been there before. "How do you feel Rebecca?"

"A little tired I guess but nothing major. What's going on?" Rebecca glanced around and realized this looked nothing like the family quarters. There was too much white and the faint smells drifting across the air seemed more medicinal than homey. "Where am I? Have I been asleep long? Why aren't I in my own bed?"

Hannah and James glanced at each other, as if silently consulting. The heavy tension in the air grew thicker and fear leapt into Rebecca's throat. "Tell me." She demanded, her voice growing sharp with anger.

James's eyes were shadowed when he took her hand in his own, as if to give her strength. "You're in the med bay on the _Geneva_. You saved her sis, when nobody else could."

Rebecca fought the impulse to snap in impatience. She remembered saving the ship, the VI had said so before she stumbled off to the elevator. "But how long…?"

"You weren't asleep. You've been sick from the exposure to the fusion core down there, and you've been unconscious for over a week. Doctor Lewis wanted you here where he could make sure you recovered from the radiation." Hannah sat down on a stool she had dragged over and smoothed Rebecca's hair.

The doubt that had clouded Rebecca's mind since she first woke up lingered still and her eyes scanned around before she realized who she was looked for. Then the comment of James's slid into place. _You saved her sis, when nobody else could._ Her throat constricted and she barely got out, "How?" as the grief slammed into her like a brick wall.

"The terrorists executed him before they got away." Hannah responded.

Rebecca couldn't hold back the wail that burst from her throat nor did she want to. She squeezed her eyes shut as she sobbed, and James immediately wrapped her in his arms. Seconds later Hannah hugged her also, whispering soft endearments that only made her cry harder.

A thousand memories ran through Rebecca's head, ending in the last morning he had gone to work, when he had kissed her and James goodbye. _Be good you rascals. I love you._ Her breath hitched and she clung tighter to her brother as her tears continued. After an eternity the tears stopped and sleep claimed her swiftly.

Hannah turned to James and spoke softly so as not to disturb the sleeping Rebecca. "Let's go James, so your sister can sleep and you can get some food. Doubtless you've been here all day. Come on," She repeated when he didn't budge from his seat.

James sighed and giving one last worried look at his sister he followed Hannah out of the med bay. He remained quiet on the trip back, without even his usual fidgeting upon waiting for the elevator.

Hannah let the quietness go, for a bout of sudden exhaustion made her too tired to inquire into her son's behavior. Knowing James though, he would speak when he wanted to, and not before. Internally she sighed upon reaching the family quarters without trouble and headed into the tiny food preparation area to make something for James. The family usually used the mess hall as Hannah and Seth had been too busy to cook fancy meals, and Hannah was never much of a cook anyway.

James accepted the sandwich without comment but the way he wolfed it down indicated Hannah's suspicions were correct. "Thanks Mom." He spoke suddenly.

"You're welcome. Feeling better?" Hannah reached out and brushed a strand of stray hair that was in his eyes out of the way.

James nodded. "Yeah but it's hard to remember to feed yourself when you're worried about someone else."

"I know, but don't forget that you have needs, like everyone else. You're human too Jim." Hannah advised.

James's mouth twisted in a wry smile, the first one she had seen since Rebecca woke up. "Don't I know it, especially after…" He trailed off.

Hannah smiled slowly as she listened to him. "You're growing up, and I'm proud of you Jim. I don't approve of how it happened, but you became a little wiser and I'm glad. Keep this up, and I know you'll grow into a strong wise man that any mother can be proud of. Now, why don't you go lie down and rest in your room? I have some things I need to take care of."

"Alright. Thanks Mom," James surprised her by hugging her fiercely before heading into his room.

Hannah sat at her terminal and checked her messages.

_Dear Lt. Shepard,_

_I'm sorry this could not happen in person but I was swiftly escorted off the Geneva the moment it docked with the Citadel as your Captain was concerned with my safety. Understandable after the terrorist attack but I am sorry for the lost opportunity to talk face to face. I'm afraid in the flurry I had setting up the embassy and dealing with a number of matters I didn't have time until now to e-mail you._

_Your son and daughter, James and Rebecca, are quite remarkable. I knew of course the Alliance military had brave personnel serving but I had no idea that same dedication to duty applied to their families as well. Your children are a credit to the Alliance and to humanity._

_I've heard how brilliant they are, and I know a good education is priceless, especially for minds as sharp as theirs. I also know I would not be here today without their protection where my security failed. The very least I may do for the little darlings is provide for their education. All I ask is for you to send me updates on their progress._

_I extend my deepest sympathies on the loss of your husband, Chief Engineer Seth Shepard. From what I've gathered, he was a good soldier, and friend to many. I can only imagine how devastating it must be to lose somebody that close, and I hope that with time the grief becomes bearable._

_Sincerely,_

_Ambassador Anita Goyle_

Hannah stared at the message in surprise before she began composing a reply.

_Dear Ambassador Goyle,_

_I'm deeply touched at your generous offer for it solves certain concerns I had regarding the children's education. I will keep in touch. Again I wish to thank you for giving my children a valuable opportunity._

_Thank you also for your condolences. He will be missed._

_Sincerely,_

_Hannah Shepard_

Hannah moved on to her next priority. She composed an e-mail to her sister in law who lived on Arcturus Station.

_Dear Naomi,_

_I hope this message finds you well. I know I've been a poor correspondent and I apologize. Sadly I wish I had better news._

_Recently Seth passed on in the line of duty. In the aftermath Rebecca was re-exposed to a high level of eezo. Due to the second exposure her biotics have been prematurely awakened and she is too dangerous to leave aboard a ship. I cannot take her with me on my next posting so I was wondering if you would take her in. I hope your expertise in eezo can help her have a semi normal life._

_James thankfully is fine. I wish I could leave the both of them but I don't wish to over burden you. I hope that you have a reply by the time I dock at Arcturus._

_All my love,_

_Hannah_

_P.S. Tell Mark to contact me. I still don't have his e-mail._

Hannah stood up from her terminal and went to check on James. The bedroom lights were dimmed and she could just make out James curled up on his bed, snoring softly. She watched him sleep for a few minutes before she kissed him on the forehead. "Sleep tight," She whispered and brushed away a bit of hair from his face. Then she left the room, and the family quarters to sit with Rebecca.

* * *

_The man he shot slumped to the ground dead, the gaping hole screaming his demise for all the world to see. Immediately James spun on his heels to face the next threat, already hearing the dull thump as the second bodyguard fell dead behind him. When he turned though, rather seeing the beautiful girl that stunned him in his tracks, he saw the dead man standing in her place, with a hole in the middle of his forehead. The corpse grinned bloodily at him and raised a pistol at James. James tried to respond in kind only to realize that his gun was gone, and the Carnifex model the dead man had used had been replaced by James's Predator. Confused, he watched as the man fired, and his world shattered into fiery darkness._

With a gasp, James jerked upwards in his bed, his hands leaping towards his face where the pain had erupted. They scrambled uselessly across it for a moment, searching for a hole that wasn't there before he realized he was perfectly healthy. It took him twice as long to slow his panicked breathing and galloping heart. "God," He muttered, burying his face in his blanket covered knees, and wrapping his shaking arms around his legs. It didn't stop him from trembling though but curling up like he did made him feel just a tiny bit more secure. Unbidden the thought flashed across his mind, _That's because you're hiding from the truth._ "I-I'm n-not, I'm not hiding." He muttered back, aloud to counter the voice in his head. _Then why are you stuttering? Is it because you can't admit what you did was wrong?_

James moved his head against the blanket, shaking it in denial as he stayed in his position. "I did it for the ship. For Mom and...I had to protect Becca. I had to stop the bad guys. I...I HAD TO!" His voice which started as a trembling soft tone rose in volume until it ended in a shout-a shout that he instantly regretted as it would only bring his mother flying in here to see what was wrong. And normally he would love to cling to her and tell her it all but she couldn't fix this anymore than she could fix his father being dead. Or him almost dying or Becca lying so still in the isolation room in the med-bay because she had to put herself in danger after he screwed up. And as if the dam holding back the guilt had been broken, more self reproaches came, faster and faster until he wanted to cry, scream, anything to make it stop. It was so self absorbing that he failed to notice the door opening or his mother racing in there, alerted by his shouting and stopping at the sight of him, curled up and shaking with fright. Nor did he notice the confusion on her face being swept away by bitter understanding and a sadness deeper than anything she had worn before.

"James sweetie. It's Mom. It's okay now." She spoke softly, her drawl rising with her focused tenderness. She didn't touch him though, instead squatting on her heels next to the cot so as to be at eye level when he looked at her.

James tensed at her voice for a long moment, unsure of what to do now that she was here. His previous conviction that nothing she could do would help was battling with the part of him that trusted her implicitly. Gingerly he lifted his face from where he'd pressed it against his knees and met her eyes. Her worry and understanding was written in the lines of her mouth and the steadiness of her green gaze, as she waited patiently for him to make a move. It made him wonder why she could possibly want to hang around him when he'd done something so horrible as killing another living being. His vision began to blur then as tears formed and he flung himself at her without thinking of anything other than the desire to be held in his mother's safe arms. Much to his surprise and relief, she caught him and continued to hold onto him without revulsion as he buried his head in her shoulders to sob.

* * *

The atmosphere on the _Geneva_ was solemn as the entire crew gathered on the hanger deck to say good bye to their fallen comrades. On either side of their mother Rebecca and James stood at attention with tears in their eyes. In front of them, four caskets stood with the Alliance flag draped over them on the launching platform for the fighters.

As the Captain spoke about the merits of service of each person, neither Rebecca nor James could say later they remembered the words. Each was lost in their own grief and bitterness over how their father was brutally taken away from them. James made a promise then and there that he would join the Alliance to prevent this pain from being inflicted on as many other families as he could. Rebecca swore that one day she would find who was responsible and make them pay dearly.

Hannah's vision went blurry as she fought the tears. She had thought she was done crying but the sight of the coffins brought it all back. She knew even if she lived to be two hundred she'd never fall in love again. Nobody else could fill the hole in her heart, of that she was certain. Seth was one of a kind and fourteen years together was too short. Gathering herself mentally she swore that she would be strong for her children and move on with her life as best she could.

As Captain Everett finished, Commander Fleischer stepped forward. "Present! Arms!"

The Marines shouldered their rifles and prepared to fire a salute.

As everyone saluted, Fleischer ordered, "Fire!"

A loud boom was followed by the caskets rolling down the launch pad and into open space.

"Company dismissed!" Fleischer finished the ceremony.

Captain Everett approached Hannah and handed her the folded Alliance flag from her husband's casket. "Lieutenant I'm sorry for your loss. Seth was a good man and is deeply missed by us all."

"Thank you Captain. Your words meant a lot to me," Hannah responded as she hugged the flag to herself.

"I would like to see you in my quarters about your request for transfer at 0800 hours tomorrow." Captain Everett ordered.

"Yes sir." Hannah answered before excusing herself to look for her children. She found them talking to O'Neil.

"And then your father bold as brass walks up to the bar next to your mother and says to the bartender, "'Whatever this lovely lady is having, give her another on me."' Your mom looked at him like he was nuts." O'Neil was clearly getting into his story but he stopped when Hannah interrupted.

"I think they're a little young for that one." Hannah gave O'Neil the look.

"But Mom we wanna hear the rest of it!" The twins chorused in unison, identical looks of disappointment on their faces.

"Not until you're older."

"Aww but Mom!"

Before the twins ended up in trouble O'Neil whispered in their ears, "I'll tell you the rest later."

James and Rebecca cheered up at that.

"Hannah I've been meaning to have a word with you," O'Neil pulled her aside so they could talk privately.

"What about?" Hannah's expression was guarded.

"Everett gave me my orders. I've been reassigned to Arcturus to help with flight training." O'Neil stood proud and broke into his signature grin.

Hannah's expression brightened. "That's good news. You've wanted that post for years. Have you told Calina yet?"

O'Neil's grin grew brighter and his accent became more pronounced. "I've been wanting to make it a surprise. She and the girls will be so happy."

"I'm happy for you Sean. Is there anything else?" Hannah inquired.

O'Neil's expression turned serious. "Would you like me to look after Rebecca? I heard she can't be on the ship."

Hannah's mood plummeted at the thought. "I've already sent a message to her aunt Naomi who lives on Arcturus and asked her about it. She hasn't responded so far. I wouldn't mind though if you looked in on Becca every now and then. Naomi has long working hours and lives alone. Mark's too busy with the Fleet and her research won't allow her to be with him. It'll be good for Becca to interact with others."

O'Neil's expression became thoughtful. "I'm sure the missus could show Becca a thing or two about biotics being she is a good one and I know the girls would love a new sister."

Hannah nodded. "It'll make it easier if there's a familiar face nearby. I really wish I didn't have to leave her. Maybe I won't. The Captain wanted to talk with me about my transfer. Maybe I'm assigned to a station as well."

"Good luck with that. I've got to round up my chicks, we've more work to do. Damn Fleischer. I swear that man's sole mission in life is to make me miserable." O'Neil muttered.

Hannah suppressed laughter. O'Neil had complained about Fleischer from the first moment he stepped on the Geneva. "He's never given me trouble."

"That's because you two are cut from the same mold: cold, hard military. You at least have two adorable children that balance you out. He's a hardass through and through." O'Neil retorted.

Hannah snorted in amusement. "Carry on Lieutenant." She collected her children and departed for their quarters.

* * *

At 0800 hours the next morning Hannah reported to the Captain in his quarters. Due to limited space his quarters also doubled as his private office.

"Lt. Shepard reporting as requested." Hannah saluted and stood at attention.

"At ease Lt. and sit down. Would you like something to drink?" Captain Everett ordered, settling down into his chair behind his desk.

"No thank you." Hannah patiently waited for Everett to get started.

"I know it's been a difficult time with your husband's death but I'm hoping this will help." He slid over to her a small box. "You've been promoted to Lieutenant Commander due to your excellent service aboard this ship and the others you've served on before. Congratulations Commander."

Hannah pinned the new insignia on her uniform, fingering it with a sense of awe before replying. "Thank you sir. I'm honored."

"About your transfer, due to your promotion you have options. I know of two ships that need an XO. Both are newly constructed and are looking for crew. The first one is the _SSV Cairo_. Your other option is the carrier _SSV Einstein_." Everett stated.

Hannah's eyebrows flew up. "A carrier? With all due respect sir, why would they offer me a carrier? I didn't think I had enough years of service for that."

Everett folded his hands on the desk in front of him and looked her in the eye. "That may be the norm but with your service record and background you're perfectly qualified for a new carrier. You have great leadership and that's what they need to train a green crew. Plus a carrier could accommodate your family more easily."

Hannah frowned as she considered this new information. "With that in mind Captain I'd like the _Einstein_. It sounds like an interesting challenge."

"I'll sign off on it. Congratulations Lt. Commander on your new assignment. As soon as we reach Arcterus, you'll report to your new ship." Everett glanced at the time as his omni tool beeped. "Our shift has started. After you, Commander."

* * *

Rebecca studied her cards carefully, giving nothing away that might tip James off. Not that it mattered though, her hand was terrible and the odds were she would lose.

"Bad hand?" James broke the silence that had settled over the cabin for the last five minutes. His face was carefully blank but his voice contained just a hint of arrogance that only somebody that knew him well would catch.

How good could his hand be if he was willing to let her hear his confidence? He usually controlled himself better and she was sure that he let his attitude slip on purpose. Granted, most wouldn't have caught the tip but surely he wouldn't give anything away unless he was utterly confident. Wait, what if he did that on purpose to make her think like this and not pay attention to the game? "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"You could always fold. I'm willing to accept the pot if you'd rather surrender." His voice was definitely smug now. He eyed the cookies on the table greedily. Applesauce cookies were his favorite, and one of the few things Hannah made.

"'Never surrender, never say die.'" She retorted.

James couldn't resist raising his eyebrow. "Winston Churchill? Your hand must be awful if you resort to quoting ancient leaders."

"At least he had class, something you lack." Rebecca spoke sharply, and then regretted it. She had just given herself away.

"I call." James tossed three cookies into the pot.

"I'm in." Rebecca matched the bet and laid out of cards. "Full house, jacks over nine."

"Not a bad broadside but you can't hit a frigate. Straight, ace high." James laid his cards down triumphantly.

"You bastard," Rebecca glared at him.

"I love you too sis." James gave her back her half. "You're getting better at bluffing. I actually contemplated folding…for two seconds."

Rebecca smiled deviously. "Hey wanna play Battle Fleet?"

"Sure, I'm game. Maybe it's my lucky day." James shrugged.

Rebecca only smirked as she brought up the hologram. "You asked for it."

The twins settled into their game. After three victories for Rebecca, James finally won one and was working on his second when Hannah entered after her shift, rubbing her forehead with some weariness. She had been trying to think of a good way to tell the twins she had to separate them once the _Geneva_ reached Arcturus but so far had only given herself a headache. "James, Rebecca…" She started, and paused unsure what to say.

Immediately they looked up and greeted her with wide grins. "Hi Mom!"

Hannah forced some cheerfulness into her greeting. "How was your day?"

"We did all our school work and then James challenged me to poker which he won so I challenged him to Battle Fleet. I won three games and James won one and he might beat me this round but I'm sure I'll get him back." Rebecca chattered, barely taking a breath between sentences.

"What do you mean 'might' beat you? I just sunk your last frigate. Face it sis, you're done for." James crowed.

"Oh yeah? I still have three cruisers." Rebecca shot back.

Hannah couldn't hide her smile. "James might be correct; he still has his Wolf Pack intact. Four frigates can do a lot of damage to a cruiser if they're within range."

"But their GAURDIAN defenses should take the frigates out." Rebecca argued.

"GAURDIAN lasers do not have enough output especially when you have to track four larger targets. Fighters on the other hand would stand no chance. Which is why his fighters haven't gotten the upper hand yet." Hannah advised.

James took the moment to move his fighters in for another attack on her cruisers. Before she could react his frigates delivered a crippling attack to her first cruiser and then bugged out.

"Hey that's not fair! You can't just run away from a fight like that." Rebecca protested as she brought in her own fighters to take the pressure off her remaining cruisers.

James was immediately forced onto the defensive. He recalled his fighters back to his carrier but they were pursued by Rebecca's fighters seeking an opportunity to kill his carrier. In response, he brought his frigates around to engage her fighters and had his fighters attack as well.

Rebecca was so focused on James's maneuver she failed to notice his dreadnaught bombarding her cruisers until both sank, leaving her with her dreadnaught and carrier. Normally she wouldn't panic but James still had his frigates and they were ripping holes in all her defenses.

As soon as her fighters were gone, James focused his attention on finding her carrier. Before it could spawn more fighters his frigates destroyed it with several well placed shots. Her dreadnaught did some damage to his fleet but with four frigates and several fighters it stood no chance. "Good game. Mom do you wanna play?" James asked hopefully. Hannah won often but she always managed to teach them something new about the game.

"Not tonight Jim. I need to talk to you both." Hannah turned serious.

"What about?" James asked warily.

"We dock at Arcturus tomorrow and I've received a transfer. I've been promoted up to Executive Officer of the SSV Einstein." Hannah began.

"You got your promotion? Congratulations! Living on a carrier should be fun." Rebecca exclaimed.

"I can't take you with me, Rebecca." Hannah said gently.

"Why? We'll stay out of trouble. It was my idea to fight for the ship. You can't punish her!" James protested.

"I'm not punishing her. It's for her health." Hannah explained. "When she exposed herself to the drive core, the additional eezo exposure powered up her biotics to the point that they're unstable. She needs to see specialists in this sort of thing; and the only ones I know of are on Arcturus."

"You can't just leave me!" Rebecca shouted.

"I don't have any choice. You could have complications the ship's doctor can't handle or you could blow out a bulkhead and kill us all. We're not sure how much power you have. You're safer on a station. I asked your aunt Naomi to take care of you and she agreed. She's looking forward to seeing you again." Hannah did her best to keep a level tone, and not let her children see how much this hurt.

Rebecca glared at her mother as she leaped up from her seat. "I don't want to live with some relative I don't even know! Why can't you and James stay with me?"

"I have my orders and I can't disobey them." Hannah tried a different tactic hoping to appeal to Rebecca's sense of duty.

"That's a lie! You just don't want to take care of me anymore and it's easier to dump me off with somebody else than pretend that you actually care!" Rebecca shouted before she raced into the second bedroom.

Inside the bedroom, Rebecca glared at her bed as if it were responsible for her anger and hurt. Clenching her fists so hard the nails dug into the skin, she felt her anger building to a towering rage just thinking about the near future. Vaguely she felt a humming in her blood as a peculiar numbness washed over her but she was too furious to realize her body was glowing. Instead she fixed her glare on her pillow and had a violent urge to rip the thing to shreds until her anger was gone. She reached for the pillow but before she could touch it purple energy surged along her arm and struck the pillow, ripping it apart. She stared at the remains of the pillow in total shock before she screamed.

James ran in upon hearing the scream and stopped in surprise as he saw his sister. "Becca? Are you alright?"

Rebecca turned at the sound of his voice and began to reach toward him but another stream of energy from her arm struck him in the chest throwing him into the wall with a sickening thud. "James? James?! Mom!" She screamed in fright before she collapsed from exhaustion.

Seconds later Hannah raced in, and took in the scene with a good deal of worry. Crouching by Rebecca she checked her pulse and sighed with relief. She was merely unconscious. "Wake up sweetheart. Come on, I know you're fine. Wake up."

Rebecca groaned as she opened her eyes and remembered what happened. "Mom I didn't mean to-! I swear it was just an accident; I was sort of mad and all of a sudden it just happened and the pillow exploded and then James ran in and I think I might of hurt him because this energy just threw him into the wall but I swear I wasn't trying to hurt him and-"

"Breathe Rebecca, breathe. Just calm down and take a deep breath. You're hyperventilating. Now, slow down and tell me what happened calmly. Okay?" Hannah instructed her daughter though she glanced up at where James was lying against the wall. His chest was still rising and falling, and she couldn't see any blood but she'd have to examine him closer to determine how badly he was hurt.

Rebecca started over, trying to stem the panic and guilt. "I was really mad and I came in the room thinking about beating the pillow or ripping it apart or something. Then its like something in me responded to my thoughts because this energy just came out and made it explode. Right after that James ran in and I turned around but before I could stop it that energy came out again and tossed him into the wall. Then I fainted because I got really tired and scared. I'm really sorry and I swear I didn't want to hurt him! I know I'm a freak but I'm sorry!"

Hannah spoke sharply, to make sure she understood. "You Are Not A Freak. This was an accident, nothing more. You are not responsible for the way you are, and you cannot blame yourself when you have no control. Do you understand me?"

Rebecca stared at her mother for a long moment, guilt still on her face but she nodded finally.

"Good. Now I'm going to check on James okay? Then I'll see what I can make for dinner tonight and we can eat in one last time." Hannah smiled softly at her daughter before getting up from the floor. She walked over to James but just as she bent over him to check on him, his eyes fluttered open and he started to get up. "Hold on, you may be hurt." Hannah began scanning James for injuries with her omnitool as she spoke.

"I feel fine Mom. My head hurts a bit but really I'm fine." James protested, standing up anyway.

Hannah frowned at him but she sighed in relief when the scan was completed. "You're right this time. No concussion or broken bones, just a bump on the head and some bruising. Next time wait for the conclusion of the scan before you stand up."

"Why wait when I know I'm fine? Besides that terrorist hit me a lot harder," James shrugged.

Hannah shook her head as she moved to leave. "I'll be preparing dinner now. Try not to upset your sister alright?"

"Sure thing Mom," James flashed a grin at his mother before he turned towards Rebecca who was still sitting on the floor, looking at him with a scared look. "You okay Becca?"

Rebecca just stared at him, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Come on sis, I know it's not your fault. You couldn't help it." James walked towards Rebecca and extended a hand to help her get up.

Rebecca flinched away from the hand. "Don't get near me! I could hurt you again!"

"I don't believe that and neither do you. Now get up off that floor and stop being a coward." James waited with his hand extended until Rebecca reluctantly grabbed it and then he pulled her up. "For the record, you didn't hurt me. I'm fine."

"But it could have been worse." Rebecca muttered.

"Could've, should've, it didn't. Stop worrying about it." James said firmly. "Now why don't we go out and find something to watch? I'll even watch that old show you downloaded, _Krogan's Heroes_?"

Rebecca scowled at him as she corrected him. "That's _Hogan's Heroes*_ you dork!"

"Really, there's no krogan in there? Darn and I was sure that Burkhalter guy was one." James snapped his fingers in disappointment.

Rebecca opened her mouth to retort but then understanding sank in. "You did that on purpose!"

James grinned wolfishly.

* * *

_In the docking bay in the central hub of Arcturus Station…_

The petite dark haired Asian woman waited patiently, smoothing down her dress once as a flutter of nerves hit her. She hadn't seen Hannah or the children in nine years and she hoped she would recognize them. She took a breath to calm the nerves and scanned the crowd of Alliance personnel for her sister in law. It wasn't easy with her height but she finally spotted Hannah who was gripping by the hand two red headed children. "Hannah!" Naomi called, pitching her voice over the crowd so as to be heard.

Hannah evidently spotted Naomi for she walked her way, with the children in tow. Each person carried an Alliance issue duffel over their shoulder. "Naomi, it's good to see you again." She dropped her duffel to give her sister in law a hug.

"The same to you Hannah. How are you doing?" Naomi studied Hannah with a critical eye noting the fatigue and lingering grief on her face. Obviously she hadn't been sleeping well.

Hannah didn't bother lying, knowing her feelings were obvious despite her attempts to hide it. "I've felt better but I'll manage. How did Mark take the news?"

Naomi's own face grew shadowed as she remembered her husband's reaction. "It's never easy losing family members but losing your younger brother is hard, especially being as close as those two were. Mark happened to be home on leave when I received the news and he's asked for an extension. Fortunately he was overdue for leave so he'll stay for a few more days. He's at home, watching dinner."

Hannah nodded but she remembered her children and subtly shoved them forward. "I know the last time you saw them was nine years ago but I hope you haven't forgotten your niece and nephew. James, Rebecca this is Aunt Naomi."

"Hello Aunt Naomi." They chorused in unison, polite smiles on their faces.

"I hope you can forgive me if I forgo the usual 'my how you've grown' and simply say hello." Naomi stated wryly and counted the giggles of the children as success. At least somebody was laughing today. "Come on, I've got my skycar waiting outside if you're ready to go."

Naomi guided the skycar down to a smooth stop in her parking space outside of the apartment block where she lived. The block was for military families only but boasted a quiet neighborhood and a park across the street for children to play in. The block was painted in Alliance colors and the Alliance flag flew proudly on a flagpole outside the place. "Here we are," She announced as they stepped out of the car.

Rebecca eyed the place unhappily as she realized this was where she'd be living for the next several years. _While Mom flies off on her next assignment with James, I'll be stuck here without anybody familiar. I wish Daddy had never died. None of this would have happened if he had lived._

James nudged his sister as he noticed the look on her face. She had been getting more withdrawn the closer they got and now that they were actually here she looked positively miserable. Not that he could blame her, the fact that soon he wouldn't see her for months, if not years on end terrified and depressed him at the same time. "Are you alright?" He muttered, though he was sure she wasn't.

Rebecca shook her head but she didn't answer. The tight mouth and glitter of tears in her eyes said it all.

"Me neither. But let's not keep Aunt Naomi and Mom waiting okay? You want to eat right?" He encouraged her despite the sudden tightness in his chest.

Rebecca took a breath and blinked rapidly to dispel the tears. "Yeah…"

"Let's go then," James nudged her and they hurried to catch up with Hannah and Naomi who were waiting at the entrance to the block. Inside was a lobby with a handful of Marines as security. Once they passed through the screening they walked to an elevator where Naomi pressed the button for her floor. Hannah and Naomi promptly resumed their conversation from the car.

"Are you nervous about your new assignment? Being XO is a big responsibility." Naomi inquired.

"I wouldn't be human if I wasn't nervous." Hannah retorted.

"True. I remember when Mark was promoted to Captain and received his orders concerning his new command. He spent half his time telling me how to keep the apartment clean and the other half taking long walks down to the docking bay until he shipped out. I was never so glad to see him go, if only because I could focus on my work again." Naomi laughed, thinking of the memory.

"Mark never struck me as the nervous type. He always seemed so confident, like Seth." Hannah paused when she said this and forced back the sadness.

Naomi was spared replying by the elevator opening onto her floor.

The group walked out and down a hallway before coming to the correct apartment. Naomi activated her omni tool and held it up to the haptic interface of the lock. The lock promptly changed from red to green and the doors slid open.

The living area was decorated in an Oriental style with the showpiece of the room being a fish tank full of medium sized Japanese Koi on the wall opposite the front door. On either side of the tank were two doors leading into the bedrooms. Drifting through the air though was a mouthwatering smell that caused the children's stomachs to growl audibly.

"I take it you're ready to eat," A man said amused, stepping into view of the children from the kitchen off to the side of the living area. He was shorter than Seth, being barely six feet tall and had blond hair as opposed to red. Otherwise he looked enough like Seth that it was clear they had been brothers, right down to the blue eyes.

The twins stared for a moment at this man who looked so much like their dad. "Uncle Mark?" They said in unison after setting down their duffels.

"That's my name." Mark said dryly.

Hannah set down her duffel and stepped forward. "It's good to see you again Mark. How have you been?"

Mark hugged her briefly before stepping back. "I should ask you the same question."

Hannah shrugged. "I'm taking it one day at a time. But we shouldn't stand around when there's food to eat. We can talk later."

"Still thinking with your stomach I see." Mark quipped leading them to the table. "I hope you like pizza."

"What's pizza?" James asked, puzzled. He stared down at his plate holding a triangular piece of dough covered with red sauce, cheese, circular shaped meat and vegetables.

"Try it. It's not as good as pizza from a pizza parlor but I did my best." Mark admitted.

"It smells really good." Rebecca sniffed. "It looks just like the pizza on those old vids I watch."

"Old vids?" Mark raised an eyebrow.

"Becca's a fanatic about 20th century TV shows and movies. She refuses to watch anything modern." James rolled his eyes.

"That's because the stuff nowadays has no soul. There's no meaning, no class!" Rebecca argued.

Hannah interrupted the quarrel before it got serious. "Why don't you two try eating instead of talking? Your Uncle worked hard on this and it's rude to not acknowledge it."

"Yes ma'am." The children muttered before beginning to eat.

The pizza proved delicious, and the salad Mark had thrown together to go with it was good as well. For some time there were only the sounds of eating and drinking from the family.

"When are you shipping out Hannah?" Mark asked casually drinking his coffee.

"Two days. I would have had more time but we were short on engineers and our engines were badly damaged. The _Geneva_ barely got into port as it was." Hannah responded.

Rebecca looked up in distress. "Two days?"

"The _Einstein_ is receiving supplies and undergoing system checks, to make sure that everything is working properly. If all goes well two days from now is when it'll launch." Hannah explained.

"Congratulations on the promotion. I remember when I got into a command position. It can be frightening to have that many people looking up to you but just keep doing what you've been doing and you'll be fine. You're a good officer Hannah, and I'm sure you'll do well." Mark advised.

"Thank you. What about you? When is your leave up?"

"I took emergency leave when I heard the news but I'm due back at the end of the week. I'll stick around long enough to see that Rebecca settles in before I go back to my crew."

Naomi interrupted then. "Being that dinner seems to be over why don't we adjourn?"

"Want help with the dishes?" Hannah took her dishes to the sink and turned back to the table.

Naomi shook her head. "Why don't you go talk with Mark? You and the children are exhausted as it is, and Mark cooked. I'll catch up when I'm finished in here."

Hannah smiled and stooped to hug her sister in law. "Thank you again. It must seem strange my asking you to raise a child out of the blue."

Naomi smiled wryly. "I'm not really raising her. It's more like an extended babysitting job."

"Still it must seem strange since you haven't had a child to take care of since Ben vanished. Have you had any luck finding him?" Hannah asked gently.

Sadness entered Naomi's eyes as she responded. "No. You know next month he'll be fourteen? September 12th."

Hannah sighed. She couldn't imagine not knowing where her children were, much less not even knowing if they were alive. "Who knows? You could come across a lead by then."

"He's been gone for nine years. The trail isn't exactly fresh." Naomi shook her head. Lately the pressure of searching for her missing son had left her feeling hopeless.

"You can't give up like this. You'll find him eventually, you've just got to be determined enough to keep looking. And when you do find him, he'll know he has a mother that never gave up, who never stopped loving him." Hannah said fiercely.

"You're right. I've just been listening to Mark too much I suppose." Naomi smiled a bit then, straightening her shoulders.

Hannah wasn't sure what to say. Mark had given up long ago on finding his son and had pressured Naomi to 'be realistic' for years now. "Mark's just scared of hoping and finding out otherwise."

"He's a pessimist you mean." Naomi's mouth tightened a touch at the thought of her husband. "But never mind that, you should go catch up while you can. I can take care of things here."

Hannah hugged Naomi again before leaving the kitchen area. She found Mark regaling the children with a story of Seth and him as boys.

"So we'd been hiding in the warehouse for hours, waiting for a chance to get away from the bullies when Seth takes too deep a breath and his nose starts twitching. It was dusty back there but I knew we had to be quiet if we didn't want to get caught. Before I can warn Seth though he sneezes, and in the quiet it's like a gunshot." Mark made a sneezing sound for dramatic effect and the twins jumped.

"What happened next?" Rebecca begged her eyes wide.

"They found you right?" James guessed.

Mark smiled as he continued. "The bullies came running over to our area and started searching in earnest. 'I know you nerds are in here! You better give yourselves up before we really have to hurt you!' The leader shouts. I'm considering if we can make a break for it when Seth starts climbing the crates as quick as he can. He was only eight at the time and I was worried to what he was planning to do. On the top of that pile though this crate was balancing a bit unevenly-like somebody didn't put it up there right. With enough force it could come crashing down."

James grasped the situation immediately. "He shoved it down on top of them right?"

Mark nodded."Right. It took him a second but he shoves with all his strength and down it went on top of the leader's head. Naturally he's knocked out and the others gather around him all worried so Seth and I make a break for it. I start running and Seth comes slipping and leaping down the pile until he's running with me. There's shouting as they see us and I grab Seth's hand and drag him behind me as I run faster. By that point I'm near the entrance and one of the warehouse worker has heard all the shouting so he's coming to investigate. I immediately yell 'These older boys are trying to get us! Help!' I'm just in time to because the bullies come running into view screaming murder but they come skidding to a halt at the sight of the adult. The worker was a pretty burly guy so he takes a step forward and says 'Is what these boys says is true? Your beating people up in my warehouse?' The bullies start denying it, all cowards without their leader telling them what to do. The worker crosses his arms and tells them 'You get out of here before I call the police and if you start harassing these boys again anywhere near here we're having a talk.'"

"Is that it? Did they stop?" Rebecca asked.

"They did and when I got home my mom gave me quite the lecture for leading Seth into trouble. I was thirteen at the time and responsible for him when she or Dad was working. But when we came home dusty and dirty she demanded to know what happened and then cut off my extranet privileges for a week. On Mars that's brutal, being cut off from everybody else." Mark shuddered slightly, remembering.

"I never knew Dad got into so much trouble when he was young." James said wonderingly. Seth would joke about ignoring them but in the end he followed regulations to the letter.

Mark snorted. "Trust me the Seth you knew was one that Hannah tamed. Before he met her he was wild. Remind me to tell you the story of him and the girl he took to prom."

Hannah cleared her throat. "Why don't you save that for when they're older? I don't need their heads filled with that sort of thing right now."

Mark said in an aside. "See what I mean about taming? Your mom's strict."

The twins started laughing even as their mom narrowed her eyes.

"It's getting rather late for a certain pair of children and they should think about going to bed. Do you have a place for them to sleep?" Hannah asked Mark.

Mark nodded. "They can sleep in Naomi's room. She's converting her office to her new bedroom but we could bunk out here if you take that for the couple days you're here."

Hannah shook her head. "It's not necessary to kick you of your new bedroom. I'll sleep on the couch for a couple nights. I've slept in worse places."

"If you're sure…" Mark offered.

"Really it's not a problem. I'd rather be out here in case the children have a problem anyway." Hannah insisted.

James interrupted. "Which one do we sleep in?"

Naomi walked up at that moment, drying her hands on a towel. "I'll show you. It's the one on the left."

"Good night Mom!" James and Rebecca chorused as they picked up their duffels and followed Naomi to the bedroom on the left.

* * *

"It's huge," breathed Rebecca as she craned her neck up to stare at the giraffe. The golden brown animal stared back before it bent its long neck to get a better look at the human.

"It's okay, you can pet it." Mark assured her, glancing at the sign again to double check.

Giggling nervously she reached up to stroke the animal's head. "Good giraffe."

The giraffe let her pet its nose for a moment, staring at her with inquisitive dark eyes before it pulled away.

"Aww." Rebecca moaned, watching the giraffe wander away to a tree in the enclosure. It stretched its neck and began nibbling on leaves swishing its tail as it did so.

"Argh!" James yelled as another giraffe wrapped a long blue tongue around his hand.

Mark glanced around and couldn't help laughing at the sight of his nephew panicking over being licked by the animal. "I think somebody likes you."

"I was just trying to feed it!" James yelled as the giraffe finished grabbing the piece of fruit out of his hand. He could swear the giraffe was smiling at him before it too wandered away.

"James I didn't know you had a girlfriend. How did you two meet?" Rebecca giggled.

James shot her a glare, trying to wipe giraffe saliva on his pants. "Very funny Rebecca. Remind me to shove you into the lion enclosure next time we pass it."

"If you do that you don't get ice cream." Mark interrupted.

"Ice cream?" They said in unison, eyes lighting up.

"Have you ever had that before?" Mark asked as they began walking toward the snack bar nearby.

"We had it once but it was a long time ago. We had some when the Geneva was launched but it's not considered a vital part of rations normally." James answered.

"Well I'm buying you some today. What flavor do you want?" Mark asked, looking at the display.

James and Rebecca stared at the long list of flavors, tongue tied as they considered what sounded good.

"I want orange sherbet." Rebecca announced finally. She glanced at James who was studying the list with the narrow eyed focus he normally gave to shooting practice.

"James?" Mark prompted.

"Mint 'n' chip." James decided.

Mark turned to the salesperson and ordered, "I want two cones of ice cream, each with two scoops. Orange Sherbet and Mint 'n' chip."

The woman quickly made the cones and handing them over gave the price. She took Mark's credit chit and after a few moments handed it back. "You have a good day sir. Enjoy!"

"Thank you, I will." Mark flashed a smile and guided the twins to a table nearby. "How's the ice cream?"

"Delicious. Thank you Uncle Mark." James said around his ice cream.

"It's awesome! Thank you." Rebecca happily licked the ice cream, ignoring the way it smeared around her mouth.

Mark smiled and let his eyes drift around the eating area. It was filled with other families out for a good day at the zoo. He had volunteered to take James and Rebecca out for a day on the station leaving Naomi and Hannah to catch up without having to worry about young ears listening in. Figuring a good way to entertain the kids and let them run around was the zoo, he had driven the skycar over to the civilian area where it was located.

* * *

_Back at the apartment…._

"I still don't understand. Why are you leaving only Rebecca here? Why not leave James too?" Naomi queried.

Hannah sighed and looked at her hands. "Her biotics have become unstable. She was around the drive core when the shielding was down and she didn't leave the area right away. There was nobody down there to warn her about it so she stayed to put the shielding up again but the eezo…her nodes got bigger. Just before we got here she made her pillow explode by using her biotics when she was mad. She didn't even know she could do it but it happened anyway. I can't take her on a ship until she can get an implant in to stabilize her."

"And they don't put those in until after puberty normally. But still why only Rebecca? Wouldn't it be better to leave James here too for companionship?" Naomi asked gently.

Hannah rubbed her temples as she spoke, "They've been together their whole lives. They've slept in the same room, learned things together and have only ever had each other to play with. Excepting the time they played with Ben when they were babies but…still they've done everything together. If I don't separate them soon and make them grow on their own, they'll never have any independence. Seth has been urging me for the last few years to separate them but I've been to reluctant to not have both where I can take care of them. I was too scared of leaving one behind. Seth's death made me realize that life is too short to let fear control you. If I had given in earlier at least one of them could be with him instead of with a relative. Not that you aren't capable or nice."

Naomi nodded as understanding sank in. "I understand. But maybe in a few years you should let James stay with me as well. It's a bit of shock to be suddenly torn away from your sibling like that, especially when they're as close as they are. And he'll probably get quite lonely on a ship by himself."

"The _Einstein_ is a carrier and I've been told there are other families who will be aboard. Not like my previous assignments where there haven't been other children. I'm sure James can make some new friends there." Hannah said thoughtfully.

"Still consider my offer. It doesn't have to be right away but I'm sure in a few years time they'll have grown into themselves." Naomi offered.

"I'll think about it." Hannah responded.

* * *

Had they been planet side Rebecca was sure the weather would have been stormy to reflect her inner gloom but being they weren't the artificial sky remained annoying cheerful and blue. The dock where the _Einstein_ was assigned was filled with crew saying goodbye to loved ones before they boarded the finished carrier. She felt as though a small moon sat on her chest, so tight did it feel and she bit her lip hard to stop her from screaming out her despair. She didn't want to watch her mother and brother board the ship without her, and she didn't want to have to come back in a few days to say farewell to her uncle when he left.

James avoided his sister's eyes as he thought of something encouraging to say to her but he kept drawing blanks. His breathing picked up as he fought against the sobs, but the prospect of leaving her behind made him feel worse. She should be coming with them, and Dad should be alive and with them too. It wasn't fair that just a couple weeks after losing his father he had to lose his sister too. But then life was never fair and all he could do was soldier on.

Rebecca blinked as suddenly James hugged her but her arms came up and she hugged him back.

"Look it's not forever and I _will_ be back to see you someday. And it's not like we don't have the extranet so we can still keep in touch. I promise, at every comm. buoy we're in range of I'll send you a message and if I forget you can punch me as soon as I get back for every message I forget to send. Okay?" James managed blinking rapidly to force back the tears.

Rebecca managed a watery grin, unable to stop tears from sliding down her face. "You'd better."

"I promise." James gave up and let the tears come. He stared at his sister for a moment memorizing the face that was similar to his before he reached up and wiped away his tears.

Rebecca followed suit, before she reached out and hugged him again. When she released him she kissed his cheek quickly. "That's for luck so you don't get blown up out there." She mumbled embarrassed.

"Me get spaced? Perish the thought!" James joked.


	4. The Force

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebecca's fateful meeting with a certain snarky young version of the best pilot in the Alliance Navy while Miranda gets up to no good again. Also while Rebecca plays poker her future husband is trying to get through another day in Brain camp....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah folks, we have Jeff, Miranda AND Kaidan in this chapter....but no James because he's gonna get a lot in the next chapter.

_April 11th_ _2167 Arcturus Station_

Rebecca's thirteenth birthday was turning out miserable and it wasn't just because she had gone to school earlier either. Almost two years had passed since she had moved in with her aunt, and this was her second birthday away from her twin. All day people had wished her a 'happy birthday' and she had to stop herself from yelling that it wasn't hers alone. James was thirteen today too, but instead of them celebrating together he was somewhere in the Traverse while she was here on Arcturus.

After depositing her school things in her room, Rebecca had opted to go to the park instead of hanging around the apartment waiting for Aunt Naomi to get off work. Now that she was here though, she found herself hating the peaceful park and wondered if she'd have been better off staying indoors. Shoving her hands in her jeans pocket she stomped her way along the meandering park pathway and didn't come out of her fuming until a group of voices caught her attention. Coming to a stop immediately, she looked around for the voices. This part of the park had trees and bushes clustered thickly, in an attempt to make the station feel more like a planet than a station but the result was most people avoided the place in fear of being jumped. Edging her way behind an oak tree she peered around cautiously, and found the group in a small clearing which the pathway led into.

Two teenage boys around the age of sixteen, each with broad shoulders and thick fists that looked fully capable of destruction circled a younger boy in a wheelchair. The young boy couldn't have been more than twelve with messy dark hair and flashing green eyes but he glared defiantly up at the bullies.

"Hey cripple, didn't your mommy teach you not to go to the park by yourself? Nasty people hang out here." One of the bullies sneered.

"Wow, really? You can't think of anything more original?" The boy scoffed.

"How about I break your jaw first?" The bully grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and raised his meaty fist.

It could have been the bad day she'd been having. Or maybe her moral code refused to watch somebody helpless be beat up when she could do something about it. Either way Rebecca's blood boiled over as she stormed out from her hiding place without considering the consequences. "HEY ASSHOLES! Stop picking on him!" She yelled loudly, immediately grabbing the attention of both the bullies and the crippled boy.

"Who's going to make us? Your big brother?" The other bully sneered.

Rebecca cracked her knuckles menacingly as she adjusted her stance in preparation for the fight. "Don't have to. I'm going to stop you myself…unless you give up right now. This does not have to end in violence."

The bullies burst into laughter and released the crippled boy to lean on each other. "Get a load of her! She actually thinks we're scared of a pipsqueak like her." The first bully gasped.

The boy had been watching the exchange intently but when it became apparent the girl was intending to fight the bullies he had to say something. "Are you crazy? You can't fight them and win!"

Rebecca didn't even glance at the boy as she sized up her opponents. "Watch me."

"Enough talk." The first bully spat as he charged her.

Rebecca waited until he swung his fist at her head before she ducked smoothly and threw her weight behind her fist as she punched upwards into his solar plexus. As he wheezed and bent over in reflex she brought her elbow between his shoulder blades sending him to the ground temporarily.

Barely had she done this before the other one was charging her from behind. Reacting she grabbed him by the wrist and threw him over her shoulder exactly as Schulyer had taught her. Then she backed away before one could get the bright idea of grabbing her ankle and yanking her down.

The bullies weren't down for long but instead of charging again they seemed to consider their next moves. They didn't talk but they way they eyed her made it obvious they were thinking it over, fast.

The first one rushed in and landed a quick jab to her right eye. Before he could follow up with a knockout punch she countered with a swift left hook and an uppercut with her right hand. It didn't faze him for long and he was able to come back with his own combinations.

Rebecca was hard pressed to dodge the flurry of blows and found her attempts at hooking his midsection blocked even as he continued his barrage of near misses to her face and body. She was so focused on ducking and weaving the hits, forced into a defensive position that she never even saw the other bully sneaking up on her, nor did she hear the warning shout of the crippled boy.

Suddenly her arms were yanked back and pinned by a strong force and she gasped in surprise. This quickly turned into a hiss of pain as the bully she had been boxing started pounding on her ribs. He used his size and strength against her as he slammed his fists into her midsection repeatedly. His mistake was when he changed areas and slammed his fist into her eye again, making stars explode where he hit her.

Despite the pain she seized her opportunity and kicked out as hard as she could into his groin. Immediately he doubled over and so surprised was the other bully at her sudden move that he didn't pay attention to her and she quickly wriggled out of his grasp. Before she could leap away though the first one grabbed her ankle and brought her down to the ground with a swift tug.

The air whooshed out of her lungs even as her ribs screamed in pain from the impact with the ground. Desperate she kicked back with her free foot and heard the crunch of a bone breaking.

His grip loosened as a howl of pain sounding something like "MY NOSE!" echoed through the clearing.

She tugged her foot away, flipped over and leaped up in almost one motion bringing her fists up again. She saw with satisfaction the first bully was clutching his nose as blood gushed between his fingers but he was stumbling to his feet anyway. Too late she saw the flash of silver and then pain ripped through her forehead as the knife cut the flesh, clean through her left eyebrow and stopping short of her eye. Blood obscured her vision and she struggled to see out of her eye that had been punched earlier and that was already swelling up. What she did manage to make out scared her. The first bully was charging her again, done clutching his nose and the second one was pulling his knife back, this time intending to do more serious damage.

Later she would remember the sudden fear and panic at the sight of the knife heading towards her chest but at the moment all she could think about was the need to get them as far away from her as humanly possible. Like something inside of her had been snapped free her body responded to her thoughts with the odd tingling and then her entire body glowed as she thrust her arms out, sending dark energy into the bullies that sent them flying ten meters into the tree line. They hit the tree with a thud and the knife flew out of the bully's hand at the impact.

She breathed hard, acutely aware of the pain in her ribs and face but the tingling still remained and she took a few steps forward glowing brightly with biotic energy. "Had enough?" She snarled, fueled by the sense of power flooding her body.

The bullies stumbled to their feet clutching their torsos but seeing the bleeding injured girl glowing purple still they panicked. "Don't kill us! We give up!" They yelped in unison before turning and running as fast as they could from the biotic girl.

Rebecca watched them run for a moment, and when the crashing through the bushes faded she turned to the crippled boy. In a quieter tone she asked, "Are you alright?"

The boy stared at her with fear on his face before he recovered his voice. "Don't hurt me!" He yelled holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I promise." Rebecca spoke softly, holding back the fear that maybe he wouldn't be placated by her words. What if he called her a monster? Maybe she was for tossing those boys into the tree line like they were rag dolls.

The boy eyed her for a moment and she held her breath, but he slowly lowered his hands. "Really?"

Rebecca offered a weak smile but a feeling of faintness came over her and she sank to the grass. She closed her eyes trying to dispel the feeling but she remembered what she had been told about biotics-using them used up a lot of calories and you had to eat after to recover.

"Hey are you okay?" The boy's concerned voice sounded closer and when she opened them his chair was closer.

"Considering I probably broke several ribs and got my face beat in pretty good, no." Rebecca snapped and then felt bad at the look on his face. Growling she took a breath and started over. "Biotics use a lot of energy and tend to leave people rather faint afterwards unless they eat something."

The boy processed this information then offered a smile. "Hey at least you have free reign to pig out."

Rebecca snorted in laughter then grimaced as a sharp pain proved her suspicion. _Aunt Naomi is going to be so pissed._ "Yeah that's always a plus."

"Why'd you even do that anyway? Fight those guys I mean." He asked, suddenly serious.

Rebecca considered it. "You want the truth? I don't like bullies. I was always taught to stand up for what's right, and not be afraid to defend those beliefs."

"What, defending the helpless? I could have taken them." He said, scowling.

Rebecca raised her eyebrows, forgetting about her wound and winced as it opened again. "Sure because you were already cowing them by the time I came along. What'd I get beat up for then?"

"You still didn't have to help me. Anybody else would have walked away. You should have."

"I told you, I don't like bullying. And what kind of a person would I be if I saw somebody who needed help and ignored that?"

"A normal one?"

"Do I look normal to you?" Rebecca slanted a look at the boy.

He considered her question for a moment. "I don't know if I should answer that. You might toss me sky high for saying the wrong thing."

Rebecca rolled her eyes and decided that hurt her black eye just as much as raising her eyebrows hurt her wound. "If I wanted to throw you I would already have done so."

"Hey I just watched you take on two guys twice your size and win. I don't know what you could do." He held up his hands in defense.

"Right because being a biotic automatically makes me a freak show right?" She said bitterly.

"I didn't say that. And just because you're a little different doesn't mean you're a freak. Whoever told you that is an idiot."

"You're awfully kind considering."

"Yeah well you're not the only one with a _condition_. You know why those guys picked on me? I have something called Vroliks Syndrome. Basically I was born with brittle bones that give new meaning to the term 'made of glass'. I could break all the bones in my hand just shaking your hand. You don't think people don't make fun of that or take advantage of it? I can't count how many times somebody's made a crack about it or thought it would be fun to punch me just to see if I'd shatter into a million pieces. I'd be a hypocrite if I started calling you names."

Rebecca blinked for a few moments before she glanced up at him. "You know, I never did get your name."

"Jeff. Jeff Moreau." Jeff flashed a smile again.

"Rebecca Shepard. But my friends call me Becca."

"You do realize I'm grumpy, selfish, and have this whole 'woe is me' complex right? Not exactly a great candidate for a friend."

"You can't be that bad. I'm impulsive, moody and love to get into fights on my birthday."

"Whoa, whoa wait. It's your birthday? Why aren't you inside somewhere in a pink dress blowing out candles?" Jeff asked.

Rebecca scowled at him. "First off I look terrible in pink. Second maybe I'm just in a rotten mood so I came to the park looking for a fight."

"Why are you in a rotten mood? Didn't get the present you wanted?"

"You could say that."

Jeff blew out a breath, "Alright I'll bite. What's wrong?"

"This is my second birthday away from my twin. He's somewhere in the Attican Traverse with my mom on an Alliance carrier. We're thirteen today." Rebecca looked at her hands.

"You have a twin? So, do you have that whole twin telepathy thing?" Jeff joked.

Rebecca shot him a dirty look. "Yeah because I can tell his every thought and wish."

"Really?" Jeff brightened up with the thought.

"I'm kidding." Rebecca was hard pressed not to roll her eyes. She could remember what had happened at school not long after she started going. Somebody brought up family and then asked about hers. The second she had mentioned having a twin brother they had all started pestering her with jokes and questions about supposed twin behaviors and abilities.

"I knew that. I mean it would have to be some pretty epic telepathy to cross thousands of light years instantaneously. So, how come you two are separated? Did your parents get divorced?"

"No. My dad died a couple years ago, KIA. And about that time I got a secondary eezo exposure. It sort of powered up my biotics to the point I can maintain Mass Effect Fields but the problem is they're unstable. I can't be on a ship because I could blow out the bulkhead or something. Plus there are specialists on Arcturus who are better equipped than a ship doctor in case I get sick."

"That's rough. So if your mom has your brother, and your dad is dead who's taking care of you?"

"My aunt Naomi and when he's home on shore leave, my uncle Mark. Uncle Mark's a Captain of a frigate so he's really busy but he comes more often than my mom. She's a Lt. Commander and she works really hard to show she can do her job. And I don't think she's been the same since Dad died. He had a great sense of humor and always made her laugh but without him around…she's different. At least that's what James says in his messages. She's even more of a workaholic than she was before and way more serious."

"You miss her a lot, don't you?"

"Yeah. It's hard not having her nearby. Most days I can handle it but it's my _birthday_ and I can't even see her in person. I'll probably get an e-mail but I doubt I'm getting a video message any time soon." Rebecca swallowed hard.

"You're not going to start crying are you?" Jeff eyed her nervously.

"As much as fun this was, I need to go. My aunt's probably home from work by now and worried sick." Rebecca stood up stiffly and with some difficulty. "She is going to flip when she sees me," She muttered.

"Hey." Jeff interrupted, a look of concern on his face. "Do you want me to come with? I could explain what happened, and then she might not get so mad if she knew why."

Rebecca shook her head. "I'm the one who got into a fight. I deserve whatever consequences I get. Besides you probably should be getting home yourself."

"You sure?"

"I'll be fine. Besides how much more trouble could I get in?"

* * *

Rebecca hesitated, wondering if she had done the right thing. Maybe she should just go home and get it over with. But then again she was a bit of a mess and maybe she'd be in less trouble if she didn't look like she walked off a horror movie set.

The only place she could think of to get cleaned up, short of actually going to the hospital was the O'Neil's where she had an open invitation to come over whenever. Granted she was pretty sure that O'Neil himself was busy playing Flight Instructor but Calina should be home. That is unless she'd been called back to the office for some diplomatic thing but there were more senior diplomats than her and surely they didn't need her there 24/7.

Taking as deep a breath as she dared with her ribs, Rebecca waved her omnitool in front of the lock, waiting to see if it turned green or not.

When the door slid open to reveal a battered Rebecca with dried blood, grass stains, dirt, and rips in her clothes-to say nothing of her shiner or the blood on her forehead that trailed down the left side of her face it was no wonder that Matron Calina, bondmate to Lt. Sean O'Neil, mother of two young daughters and one of the diplomats of the asari republics sent to further relations with the Alliance on Arcturus Station gasped.

Rebecca sheepishly smiled up at her, "Um Matron Calina? Could I come in?"

Calina recovered from her gaping to usher the human adolescent into her apartment. "Of course Rebecca! But why have you not gone to the hospital in your state? What happened?"

"Erm…I got in a fight." Rebecca replied, rubbing the back of her neck as she did so. She wondered now if this was a bad idea especially once Calina learned she hadn't exercised control and her biotics flared up again. It wasn't the first time it had happened. It happened rarely, but each time she had worked harder on control, doing the little meditative exercises Calina was teaching her.

Calina closed her eyes for a second before she gently dragged Rebecca into the kitchen area where she sat her down at the table. "Where do you hurt and what happened?"

"My ribs, eye, and a knife cut me in the forehead mostly through my eyebrow. I don't think the wound's that big but there's an awful lot of blood. Hurts to breathe too." Rebecca admitted, wincing as she took too deep a breath out of habit.

"Did they stab you elsewhere? And how much does this hurt?" Calina asked as she began gently pressing against where Rebecca's ribs were located.

Rebecca hissed and her already pale face seemed to whiten more. "A lot. I think some of my ribs are broken. But no, nowhere else. I stopped them before…"

Calina paused in her diagnosing to fix Rebecca with a stern blue stare. "Stopped them _how_ Rebecca? With your biotics?"

Rebecca nodded. "I didn't mean to but the knife was coming at me again and the other one was charging me…so I panicked and threw them. But they're not dead! They were just shaken up."

Calina breathed through her nose, forcing herself to be calm. Being furious would not get any answers and would likely send Rebecca away. She'd probably come to avoid her aunt seeing her like this. "Thank the Goddess for that then. But why did you fight in the first place? Isn't it your birthday?"

"I had to." Rebecca mumbled, her voice growing quiet.

Calina sighed and put hot water in a bowl, took a clean cloth and began gently cleaning the blood and dirt off Rebecca's face. "Was there a reason?"

"Two teenage boys around sixteen with big meaty frames were bullying a young crippled boy in a wheelchair. The boy was around my age, maybe a bit younger. I couldn't sit there and watch them beat him up for fun!" Rebecca hissed as the cloth rubbed against the knife wound.

Calina stopped in her cleaning to examine her face now. The blood had been scrubbed away except from the cut that sliced cleanly through her eyebrow. Rebecca had been correct-the wound was mainly through her eyebrow but head wounds tended to bleed worse than the wound actually was. Now the most obvious marring to her face was the colorful bruise around her right eye that already swelled it shut. She'd likely be carrying the evidence of her fight around for several days. "Defending the helpless is always a noble cause, even if it ends up with one the worse for wear. You need to go to the hospital for your ribs and that knife cut of yours but I've gotten the worst of the blood off. At least you won't go in looking like a krogan jumped you." She joked, coaxing a smile out of Rebecca.

"From what I've heard about krogan, I'm pretty sure if one jumped me I'd be dead. But thank you." Rebecca spoke softly.

Calina smiled at her. "When your four centuries old you tend to pick up a few things."

The front door opened and Dreena's voice came through before her body did. "Look Dad, all I want to do is get off this station and see the galaxy before I settle down. What's wrong with that?" Technically her 'father' was a Salarian but he had died several decades ago and Sean was the first mate her mother had taken since then.

"Nothing but it's how your proposing to fund your trip is what worries me. How is joining a merc band a good thing? Besides you're only sixty seven. Isn't that a little young to leave home?" Sean argued as he walked in behind her.

Dreena shrugged casually. "I could be an exotic dancer instead. I passed all my dance classes."

"Over my dead body." Sean shot back.

"So I'll wait eighty years. No big deal." Dreena said in a condescending tone.

Before Sean could think of a comeback the door to one of the back bedrooms opened and little Faya came running out. "Daddy home!" She crowed. At five she was beginning to run around and babble in a mixture of Asari and Basic.

Sean grinned and lifted her up for a hug. "How's my little girl?"

"I'm surprised she's up already. I just put her down for a nap a half hour ago." Calina walked over to greet her mate and daughters.

"I'm too big to take naps." Faya announced.

Sean raised his eyebrows at her. "Then I guess you're too big to be picked up and hugged. Better put you down then." He made a move to set her down but at her shriek he kept her in his arms. "What was that?"

"No! I'm not too big!" Faya pleaded anxiously.

Dreena shook her head. "I'll take her Dad. Come on Faya, let's go find a snack." She took her sister and walked toward the kitchen area but stopped short at the sight of Rebecca. "What happened to you?"

"I got in a fight." Rebecca stated simply. Dreena being nearly grown tended to look down on her and think of her as a child but she wasn't completely unfeeling.

"Did you win?" Dreena eyed her injuries and the ripped clothing wondering if she'd end up the same way joining a merc band.

"Barely." Rebecca elected to be honest.

"Is that what you look like after getting in a fight?"

"Sometimes you look worse. Or you're dead."

Dreena's mouth made a silent 'o' as she thought it over. Maybe joining a merc band wasn't a good idea after all.

"Where's my snack?" Faya demanded twisting her head to look at her sister.

Dreena sighed and put her down on a chair. "I'm getting it."

"Calina tells me you need a trip to the hospital. Why am I not surprised?" Sean said, shaking his head as he studied Rebecca.

"Sean, be nice. She had a good reason." Calina frowned at Sean.

"I'm sure she did. But sometimes I think she inherited more than Seth's coloring." Sean shook his head. "Alright let's go."

Rebecca stood up and followed Sean out. "Bye Calina. Thanks for the first aid."

"You're welcome. I'll call your Aunt, and let her know where you are." Calina waved goodbye. When the door closed behind them she turned to make a call.

* * *

When Sean and Rebecca exited the skycar and approached the hospital, Naomi was waiting just outside.

"Oh crap." Rebecca muttered at the stern look on her aunt's face.

"Watch the mouth if you want to avoid more trouble," Sean advised.

"I've heard of birthday beat downs but this is just ridiculous. What were you trying to prove anyway?" Naomi crossed her arms and even though she and Rebecca were the same height now, she managed to give the impression of being much taller.

"I wasn't trying to prove anything." Rebecca protested.

"Oh really? Then what was the fight all about?"

"Somebody was being beat up for no reason, and the bullies weren't backing off. I had to jump in, as a matter of principle."

Naomi pinched the bridge of her nose. "A matter of principle. What happened to calling station security? Or going for help?"

"There wasn't time. I had to intervene then." Rebecca argued.

Sean interrupted gently. "Maybe we should go see the doctor now and argue this later.

Naomi took a breath and nodded. "Fine but we will be discussing this later. Especially regarding your lack of control and your tendency to jump without looking."

Rebecca nodded glumly and allowed herself to be guided inside the hospital.

* * *

After being examined by the doctor, slathered with medi gel and bandaged up, Rebecca was pronounced fit to go home.

"I don't know what sort of trouble you got into, but I'd stay out of it for a few days young lady if you don't want those ribs cracking further." The doctor said, giving her a stern look. He had a pretty good idea to what kind of trouble that was, judging by how the injuries were inflicted but the kid didn't volunteer any information and he wasn't asking.

"Yes sir." Rebecca said solemnly, resisting the urge to salute. Growing up on military ships all her life, it was strange to be living in a place where civilians weren't very far away and where every adult didn't need to be saluted. She had gotten teased horribly her first few months of school where she tended to salute and stand at attention when the teacher entered the room. Even her answers had been phrased in a military manner; crisp and to the point. Eventually that had been worn down to a general respectful attitude but not before she earned the nickname 'G.I. Jane'.

The doctor didn't raise his eyebrow, only nodded as he already turned to deal with the next patient in the emergency room. "You can leave now Miss Shepard."

Rebecca carefully got down from the table and walked out, searching for Aunt Naomi. She found her gulping coffee from a vending machine while Sean serenely read a digital magazine off his omni tool.

"The doctor says I can go now." Rebecca announced, trying to ignore the tightness of the bandages. It felt odd being so stiff, like she was a mannequin or something. Was this how James had felt those days she'd been unconscious on the _Geneva_?

"You know Seth used to give me until the end of the article before he was ready to leave." Sean complained good-naturedly, closing down the magazine.

Naomi snorted as she walked over from the machine. "You were looking at the pinup girl. The article you finished twenty minutes ago."

"Hey she looked like somebody I knew back in high school. I was trying to figure out if it was Bridget or Shannon." Sean protested as they left the hospital.

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Don't you have a wife back home? One that loves you?"

Sean grinned, his eyes glinting gleefully. "But how else will I get ideas for the bedroom?"

Naomi spit out a mouthful of the sluggish coffee in surprise before she managed to bring her composure back. "Ix-nay on the edroom-bay alk-tay around ebecca-ray." She muttered.

"You know I can understand you right? And I _am_ thirteen Aunt Naomi. I've heard worse jokes at school, trust me." _Not to mention the things the Marines used to talk about._ Rebecca sighed. Sometimes adults worried about the stupidest things honestly.

"I promised your mother you wouldn't turn out an uncivilized savage." Naomi shot back, waiting impatiently for Sean to unlock the skycar. She'd taken a public taxi to the hospital, not wanting to waste the fuel when he had a vehicle waiting.

"As opposed to what? A boring old stick in the mud?" Rebecca slid in the backseat of the car.

"No, as in a productive member of society that isn't thrown in jail every five seconds." Naomi scowled back at her niece. If this was the start of the teenager attitude, she had a feeling she wasn't going to enjoy the next five years.

Sean guided the skycar for several more minutes before he cleared his throat. "So is the birthday party still on for tonight? The girls have been excited for a week, and I don't think they can hold on much longer. They're liable to explode if they don't let loose all that cheer."

Rebecca brightened up. "Is there going to be ice cream? I love ice cream."

"And cake too." Sean promised solemnly.

"Don't spoil the whole surprise." Naomi reminded him.

"Who do you think I am? The Citadel Council?" Sean chuckled at his joke.

"You're weird Sean. Why was Dad friends with you again?" Rebecca half joked.

"Hey somebody had to keep him out of trouble. You wouldn't believe the things he got up to before he met Hannah. Sad thing is I only knew him from the enrollment center onwards. There's no accounting for his teenage years." Sean deftly landed the car in his parking space outside the compound.

"Like you're any better? Ship scuttlebutt said the last thing you did on the _Geneva_ was help fix all the fighters because you pissed off Commander Fleischer. What'd you do, put a pincushion in his seat?" Rebecca asked innocently, strolling ahead. She stopped when there was a silence behind her, and turned around. "What'd I say?"

Sean had grown quiet, with a serious look on his face that she hadn't seen since her dad's funeral. "If only it was that simple." He said softly.

Rebecca blinked, confused. There was something going on here, and she didn't have any idea what. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Naomi cleared her throat with a look at Sean. "Nothing. Why don't we go inside and have the party? Rebecca you need to change out of those bloody clothes and into something nice."

Rebecca recognized the phrase and put up her hands in protest. "There is absolutely no way in hell I'm wearing a dress. Especially not that awful green one."

"What's wrong with the 'awful green one'? That was a birthday present from your Uncle Mark. It took him three months to find one that was just right and another month to send it here."

"No offense but it's got way too much lace and…girlie stuff. I mean what's wrong with a nice shirt and jeans or something?"

"Young ladies do not forgo perfectly nice dresses on formal occasions. What about when you get married someday? Don't you think you should wear a dress then?"

"Get with the times Aunt Naomi. This is the 22nd century! Nobody wears those stupid dresses anymore. And anyway who in their right mind would marry me?"

"Go inside and change into the dress or you can say goodbye to the extranet." Naomi pointed at the building they were loitering outside of.

Rebecca glared mutinously at her aunt before stomping indoors, crossing through the grass and flower beds on purpose. "Dictator." She muttered loudly before disappearing inside.

* * *

"Read 'em and weep." Rebecca leaned back in her chair smugly as she laid out her cards on the table. The best part of winning at poker was watching Jeff's face as he realized he'd been duped, again.

"You're cheating. There's no way you can win four times in a row." Jeff accused.

"Actually it was six but who's counting? Care to play again?" Her words were friendly but the evil glint in her eye told otherwise.

"Oh no. I'm not falling into your trap again you she devil. We're playing something else." Jeff snatched the cards up from the table and put them back into a deck.

Rebecca shrugged cheerfully. "Okay. What do you want to play?"

"How'd you learn to play so well anyway? I've never seen anyone that good." Jeff asked, while he thought of another game.

"My brother taught me. Of course he's much better than I am. You're actually the first person other than my parents I've beaten. For some reason nobody else will play with me." Rebecca answered.

"Yeah I wonder why." Jeff muttered.

"What?" Rebecca narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing. So you mean your infamous twin can actually kick your butt at poker?" Jeff tried not to shudder at the thought of somebody even better than Rebecca. The thought was terrifying.

"James happens to be the best poker player I know. Quite possibly the best in the galaxy. I only beat him once and that was the time he had a really bad cold from shore leave on this planet. How he got sick I don't know but it worked out well for me…until I got sick the next day." Rebecca bragged.

"Well that's good to know that even the mighty Shepards can be felled by a simple cold." Jeff cracked.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "The Shepard family is hardly mighty. We're just like anybody else."

"Right, and I'm the best pilot in the galaxy. If you were normal you wouldn't be my friend and you certainly wouldn't have supernatural skill at card games." Jeff scoffed.

"You amaze me. Every time we have a conversation you work something in there about how I'm not normal. Starts to make me wonder what you're really saying." Rebecca propped her chin on her hand and stared at Jeff unblinkingly.

Jeff squirmed under her stare until finally he gave up. "Alright, alright quit with the freaky staring! You're creeping me out!"

"So are you going to answer my question now?" Rebecca allowed a small smile.

"Do I have to? I'm no good at this feelings crap." Jeff groused.

"If you confess some undying love thing I'm going to have to sock you, brittle bones or no." Rebecca quirked the eyebrow that now had a scar running through it. A couple months had passed since the park incident and the scar had faded to white.

Jeff made a face. "Don't make me sick. It's not like that…at all. It's just everybody else I met would rather pity me or take advantage of me. Nobody bothers to actually sit down and talk with the poor little kid with the creaky bones."

"So because I actually have a heart and care enough to be your friend I'm weird? Well that's one for the ages." Rebecca shook her head.

"I'm serious. How many other people would have jumped to my defense like that, back in the park? Or continued to bug me nearly every day until we started hanging out? I mean even if they saw past the disability I'm sure my attitude would just piss them off. Yet you're here, despite all that. I just can't figure out why." Jeff shook his head.

"Maybe because you're the first real friend I've made since coming to this station. Sure you have this huge chip on your shoulder, you complain, you make jokes at the worst times and tend to be an altogether a pain in the ass, but I can count on you to be there, to have my back when nobody else does. Plus you don't sugar coat the truth, you just say it. You're honest and that's a good thing." Rebecca countered.

Jeff turned a small shade of red at the compliments but he sat up straighter in his wheelchair. "So ah, how about a round of Battle Fleet? Bet I can beat you again?"

"You just can't let that go can you? Alright fine, but don't count your chickens before they hatch. I'm pretty good with ships you know." Rebecca tapped a few buttons on the gaming table, activating the holographic display.

"You're not bad…but I'm better." Jeff smirked.

"If by better you mean that you have this annoying habit of beating me with frigates then yeah you are. But you have to admit I nearly got you a few times." Rebecca brought up the game.

"Keep telling yourself that." Jeff consoled. "Ready to die?"

"Maybe you should ask yourself that. Let's go Mr. Moreau." Rebecca stretched her fingers.

"Alright don't say I didn't warn you." Jeff shot back before beginning.

* * *

_Miranda's apartment, Illium_

Miranda took her place at her desk as the monitor flickered to life when the Illusive Man patched himself through to her monitor. "Is there a problem with my report sir?"

"Your reports are fine. I have a new assignment for you." The Illusive Man took a swig of his brandy.

"What kind of assignment?" Miranda asked with eagerness. She had been shuffling paperwork for the last six months and was eager to get out again.

TIM lit a cigarette as he spoke, "Operative Walker has requested you handle gathering further intel to improve our biotic program at the Telton facility. He has managed to acquire key information into Conatix's secret biotic research programs. From this intel we have found the locations of their two most important projects. Both are on Gagarin Station."

"You want me to infiltrate Jump Zero?" Miranda folded her hands on her desk. "So you want the BAaT files and what else?"

"The primary test subject of Project Solomon. You will need to acquire him alive. If that proves impossible, neutralize him. Without him their programs collapse."

"Can you forward the dossier?"

The Illusive Man put out his cigarette and tapped a few keys on his terminal as he sipped more brandy. "Sent. Good luck. Oh one more thing, the utmost discretion is required for this mission. The Alliance must not ever know we were there. You are allowed to determine your own mission plan but no more than two additional operatives. Gather your team and submit your mission plan within the hour."

* * *

_Three Days Later on Gagarin Station_

When Kaidan Alenko arrived at BAaT he didn't know what to make of it. After a few years he came up with some conclusions. The food was good-when they got any. The training regime was rigorous to say the least and the alien instructors were cruel-to be polite. His fellow "students" on the other hand were nice enough-if a little crazy in their own ways.

Of all the kids in BAaT, Solomon Mitchell was the oddest. It could have been the fact he had been there too long, or maybe he was always eccentric. Either way, he always kept to himself and any attempts at friendship by other students resulted in a cold glare and silent rebuff. Kaidan could count on one hand how many people he actually talked to; three himself never spoke of his past and never complained about the conditions of the program. It was like the tall blond boy with cool blue eyes had no feelings, like he was some sort of machine.

Kaidan couldn't deny though that Solomon was a skilled biotic. Skilled enough that he did his exercises right the first time and with enough power that the only person who came close was himself. And that fact was why he ended up as Solomon's roommate.

"Alenko are you going to eat that?"

"What?" Kaidan started out of his thoughts and glanced at the boy across the table who was eyeing his food greedily. Belatedly he realized over half of the lunch period had passed judging by the mostly empty trays of the others.

The boy, Ryan, rolled his eyes. "Man, do you ever do anything beside daydream? Whatever's going on up there can't be more important than reality."

"Leave him alone Ryan. I've seen you do the same so shut up." Helen snapped while shoving a spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth.

Picking up his utensils Kaidan proceeded to eat his lunch while his eyes roved over the cafeteria, searching for a particular person. She wasn't hard to spot though, sitting and laughing with a group of friends. Even from clear across the room she was beautiful and he felt his heart speed up when her dark eyes glanced in his direction. He was quick to look elsewhere to avoid being creepy and when he looked back she was no longer looking at him.

"Are you going to make a move or wimp out again?" Solomon spoke up from the end of the table.

"What?" Kaidan jumped and stared in surprise at him. Solomon rarely spoke to him and it was almost never in a social setting.

"If not, I will." Solomon said with a grin. It took Kaidan a moment to realize that Solomon was teasing. It was so out of character the whole table did a double take.

"I didn't know you had a thing for Rahna." Ryan eyed him in surprise.

"She's a lovely person. Who wouldn't?" Solomon rebutted in his usual monotone.

"Then why aren't you going for her now?" Ryan demanded.

"Because unlike you I have respect for other people's feelings," Solomon left the table, empty tray in hand.

Kaidan glared at Ryan. "Damn it Ryan, he was talking with us for a change. Why did you have to ruin it?"

"What? Was it something I said?" Ryan scratched his head in confusion.

"Dude, you are such an idiot." Helen rolled her eyes. Secretly she was glad to know Solomon respected her feelings for him.

Before Ryan could respond, Commander Vyrnnus entered the room. "I hope you enjoyed your meal-it will be your last today unless you perform. Class is in session; let's go."

Everyone got up without protest; having learned in the year since he had come not to. It never ended well.

Once the students had gathered in their training room Vrynnus faced the group. "Today we will be practicing lift fields. And since you all have been doing so _well_ ," He paused to glare at Solomon. "I'll be taking you off the baby weights." He pulled the tarp off of a large object which was marked 500 kilos* on the side of it.

Immediately Ryan groaned at the sight. "There's no way we can lift that!"

"Really," Vrynnus's mandibles twitched as he stepped up to Ryan. "We have a volunteer. Begin." He ordered as he roughly tossed him into the object.

Ryan picked himself up and gathered his energy as he began his lift. Everyone could feel the fields struggle to budge the object but in the end nothing happened. Before Ryan could collapse, Vrynnus grabbed him and threw him back into the group.

"Next!" Vrynnus grabbed the next student. The process continued with the same results until he got down to the top three students; Helen, Kaidan, and Solomon.

Before he could grab Helen, she stepped forward and began her attempt. As she strained to lift the object with her biotics her vision started to get dimmer until finally it went black. Suddenly though she felt herself being thrown back into someone taller than her and she clutched in reflex at the person as she asked, "Did I do it?"

A voice she recognized as Solomon responded even as he gently moved her to the side of him. "You only wriggled it."

"Damn. Has Alenko started yet?" She whispered, hoping to not get thrown about more for talking.

"Yeah." Solomon whispered back. She felt him smooth her hair as he spoke. "Don't worry, the guy's dependable. He won't let us down."

Kaidan could already feel a migraine coming on just looking at the object. The thing was twice the weight of what they had been working with and none of them were ready for the increase. He quickly centered himself and his biotics flared to life. After much effort the object began to lift.

Vrynnus cursed as Alenko lifted the object. He hadn't expected anybody to lift the object but of course Alenko did it to spite him. But the human hadn't won yet. He still had to lift it higher than two meters and from his measurement the object was only half a meter off the ground.

The lance of pain behind his eyes became sharper as Kaidan struggled to lift the object higher until finally he dropped it with a thud, finding the task of going higher impossible.

Vrynnus sneered as Alenko sank to the ground clutching his head in pain. "Can't walk? Let me give you a hand." Grabbing him roughly, he tossed him into the students in the same manner as he had thrown the others. "Unless Solomon there can lift that thing higher than two meters, no dinner for any of you."

Solomon walked out to the object before Vrynnus had a chance to manhandle him. As he took a breath and focused on activating his biotics he ignored Vrynnus's mocking.

"So Wonder Boy, can you do _this_ on your first try?"

Opening his eyes Solomon began. He blocked out the pressure of failure and ignored any thought of how difficult this task was. Narrowing his eyes in focus his efforts began to produce a visible result as he passed the half meter mark and then achieved one meter. Just as he gathered for the final push every nerve in his body screamed out in agony and the object began wobbling.

Immediately the room was filled with shouts of encouragement as everybody got behind their last hope. Helen was especially vocal. "You can do it Solomon!"

Solomon gritted his teeth as he inched up the object with the shouts but the fire in his nerves could be ignored no longer. Crying out he dropped the object as his world narrowed to one of burning pain.

The room fell silent except for Solomon's cry of pain as he collapsed in a heap, processing the fact he had failed for the first time. Helen however immediately rushed to his side and tried to comfort him only for him to recoil at her touch.

Vrynnus didn't bother to hide the satisfied expression on his face. Finally the smug bastard had broken, and it only had taken a little extra weight to do it. "Maybe you'll earn your meal tomorrow. Class dismissed."

"That isn't fair! He had it a meter off the ground and would have had it higher if his implants didn't-" Kaidan protested over the crowd who yelled at Vrynnus's announcement.

"That's no excuse for failure. In a battle there are no second chances. If he can't get over a little pain then he'll die, simple as that." Vrynnus interrupted him.

Kaidan glared as he confronted Vrynnus. "That task was rigged. You knew none of us could lift it and you set it anyway! The only reason you did it was to make Solomon fail." He hadn't missed the smug expression on the Instructor's face at Solomon's results.

Vrynnus's good mood was souring fast. Trust Alenko to be responsible for that as well. "I recall you lifting it a half meter. There was no reason for any of you to fail except for simple laziness and lack of effort on your part. As I said before, class dismissed."

The class dragged themselves out, some leaning on others as their side effects wore down and exhaustion set in. Each step though was haunted by the gnawing hunger in their stomachs; made worse by the knowledge there would be no dinner to sate it.

The time until lights out passed in a blur until Kaidan gratefully crawled onto the top bunk in his room and fell asleep.

* * *

The supply freighter completed the docking procedures and as guards from BAaT went to secure the supplies from the ship-as well as keep a sharp eye out for any would be escapees-three figures slipped away into the station.

So far the prototype tactical cloaks had worked beautifully-nobody even suspected there was anybody there who shouldn't be. Still Miranda was cautious and avoided any direct confrontation with the guards as she snuck her team in. They had twenty minutes to download the files, secure subject Solomon, and escape before the supply freighter they came in with left. Fortunately she had an expert team this time around and she'd be damned if she let this incident resemble the Geneva.

"Man do you see all that food they're unloading? I can't believe most of it is for the brats. Wish they gave me that much food." A guard close to the door leaving the hanger grumbled, shifting his weight.

"Can it already, will you? We're supposed to be on duty." His partner snapped and his eyes roved right over the space the Cerberus Operatives were. Seeing nothing he turned away and the Operatives continued forward.

The hallways were twisting and plain, confusing to most people but Miranda had memorized the lay out to Gagarin Station and knew where to go. The control room was the most likely place for the information they sought and so as long as they avoided the patrols, they would be fine.

Luck seemed to be on their side as the cloaks not only held but the guards didn't come close to their position, instead walking away or looking elsewhere than where they were. Within a mere five minutes of escaping the hanger they reached the control room. Miranda made quick work of bypassing the lock while the team covered her and she snorted in contempt when they found nobody inside.

 _Sloppy work leaving the most important room unguarded._ Miranda shook her head as she entered. "Damian secure the BAaT files and make sure to back it up. Alice watch our backs." She ordered even as she set to work locating where the subject was.

"Yes Ma'am." Alice took up position by the door, gun ready to go. She was quite the markswoman but more importantly she had intelligence. Despite her petite frame and large blue eyes she was highly skilled at infiltration, something that had gotten her this assignment.

Damian stretched his fingers before he set to work hacking through firewalls and locating the digital database where the BAaT files were stored. Long fingers danced over the terminal as he successfully broke into the system and dark eyes lit up momentarily when he found the files. Soft spoken he knew computers better than people and finding back doors into them was second nature to him. "Download starting now." He inserted an OSD into the terminal and quickly hit the correct keys to copy the files.

"Locate the hardcopies as well. We want to make sure we have backups." Miranda ordered as she sorted through the biotic children, searching for Solomon. _There_. Her search pulled up the location and she referred to the map in her mind for where the room was. She closed down the search, and began a program that would wipe out their digital finger prints as well as erase their presence in this room and elsewhere in the station, should the cloaks fail.

"Backup and download complete. We have twelve minutes Ma'am." Damian stored the OSD and took his spot by the door, ready to begin the next phase.

"Move out and don't get careless. These cloaks are _not_ fool proof." Miranda tersely ordered as she activated her cloak and they slipped out into the corridor.

As they moved into the area where the biotic children slept, the guard's presence increased and the group was forced to slow as several close calls nearly had them caught. Letting out a quiet breath Miranda moved on and approached the corridor where Solomon's cell was located. She wasn't imagining the two guards hovering directly outside his cell but fortunately she had plans to remove them.

The sleeping injections were fast acting and long lasting, and as the guards slumped to the ground asleep Damian began bypassing the lock. The cloaks chose that moment to shimmer and stop.

Miranda didn't allow any sound to escape at the cloaks failing but her lips did twitch at the failure. If any guards came along at this moment their secrecy and the operation would be blown.

Just then the lock turned green and slid open to admit the infiltrators. Keeping tense they entered the darkened room where only the slow breathing of the asleep greeted them.

Kaidan wasn't sure what woke him but with the suddenness that often came from being a light sleeper he was awake. When the door slid open and three figures entered he quickly closed his eyes, and pretended sleep. It seemed to work because when he cracked his eyes open again they ignored him and bent over the bottom bunk where Solomon slept. The scene was too familiar; since becoming his roommate he had often woke to find Conatix in the midst of taking Solomon off for something secret in the middle of the sleep cycle which always concluded before morning. It was a common enough occurrence that he had grown used to the almost random visits although he never understood what it was they took him off for. These people looked different, younger and they didn't quite strike him as scientists or Conatix guards. There was something off about them but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

After injecting the subject with a heavy sedative to ensure he didn't wake up on the way back, Miranda attached a fourth cloaking device to the boy before she signaled to Damian to lift him. This one was remote controlled, making it simpler for them to escape with him without the guards being alerted. This would prove to be the toughest part, as they had just seven minutes to escape while carrying dead weight.

The strangeness increased when, the group activated something and suddenly they vanished. If he hadn't known better Kaidan would have sworn they were never there. Soft footsteps sounded and as the doors slid closed again he realized they had simply turned invisible somehow. Why would Conatix's people bother to hide themselves in their own station? It didn't make sense. Growing uneasy with the thought that maybe something more sinister than experimentation was going on, it was a long time before Kaidan could sleep.

Meanwhile Miranda and her team hurried but between the seemingly thicker patrols and the dead weight of Solomon which Damian struggled to carry they couldn't move as quickly as before. Growing more on edge as precious minutes bled by Miranda was much relieved to arrive at the hanger with five minutes to spare before the freighter lifted off.

Hoping that the cloaks would work for a bit longer the group made their way across the space, using their previous route until they reached where they had exited the freighter. Entering quickly they settled in their hiding spot just as the freighter closed up and began to leave Gagarin Station.

Miranda sent a report to the Illusive Man: _Subject secured and files acquired. Mission Accomplished._ _  
_

***= The weight they're trying to lift (500 kilograms) is approximately 1100 pounds which in ME terms is a krogan in heavy armor.**

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a kudos or comment below if you enjoyed it. More chapters coming soon!


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